The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR II: Scattered Symphony
by Black Fuego
Summary: It is now the second semester of Beacon and students from all around the world are arriving for the upcoming festival. Despite the happy atmosphere, danger hides in every corner, even among the safest places. Bonds are tested, new friends are made, and strong foes will appear. Can the three teams handle the changes in their lives? Or will they be overwhelmed? Only time will tell...
1. Kicking Off with a Bang

Surprise, everyone! Black Fuego here with chapter one of my rendition of RWBY Volume 2, which I call Scattered Symphony. It took me a while to figure out a good name for this, but I think this name works. The other name I came up before, Vytal Fantasia, will be reserved for the name of my rendition of Volume 3, which I'm sure will focus on the Vytal Festival. Writing this story will definitely be a challenge, but fun nevertheless. Mainly due to the introduction of a few characters that don't belong to me, mainly teams ZFRR and THSL by Xentryn and SHUI by Frasian. My readers, please wish me luck for writing this story and I hope you enjoy the first chapter of The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR II: Scattered Symphony!

Disclaimer: I don't own the RWBY series nor any other series that may be mentioned in this fic. I have, however, seen the Matrix Trilogy with my roommate recently, who is a big fan of it by the way, and I gotta say, I wished I seen it sooner. Now I know why so many people love it so much. It's pretty awesome!

The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR II: Scattered Symphony

Chapter 1: Kicking Off with a Bang

The city of Vale, a bustling place named after the very kingdom it is located in. Very few are not aware of this place, for it is home to many well-known establishments and festivities, the biggest of them being the prestigious Beacon Academy and the world famous Vytal Festival respectively. Humans and Faunus from all over the world and in all ages are either heading their way to the capital city or are already there, either to enjoy the upcoming festival or attend class at Beacon for the new semester as part of the school's exchange program for the upcoming tournament being held at the end of the school year. Due to all the people coming, the citizens of the city were working furiously to make sure their home was in the best condition for the multitude of visitors they were going to have.

One such citizen was the owner of a small shop named From Dust Till Dawn, who was commonly called the Shopkeep. The old, bald man, who wore a simple green shirt with matching pants over a red apron, was standing on a ladder and finishing up with a sign he just put on his store, a re-opening sign. Due to an incident involving a bunch of felons in suits and a kid in a red hood many months ago, the old man had to close shop for a while to get everything fixed up. It took a while, especially with all the Dust robberies lately, but the man was finally ready to re-open his store. He was so happy that he even brought his granddaughter in to work with him, even if she wasn't able to help out all that much.

"Hey, Grandpa? Are you almost done with the sign?" A young girl no older than eight, with black hair in a bun and green hairband and a dark green dress, asked impatiently, wanting to get this day over with.

"Almost done, sweetie. Just got to straighten it a little more…" The old man replied, grabbing the sign a moved it a little, before removing himself from it and gave himself a satisfied nod. He then turned his head down to the child and smiled warmly. "Alright, Lin, I finished. How does it look?"

"…Are you seriously asking me this, Gramps?" The child, now known as Lin, drawled before pointing at her eyes, which were grey and blank. "I'm blind, remember? I can't see worth jack and you're asking me if I think it looks good? I think you're going senile, old man…"

"Hahaha, maybe. I am quite old, after all," The Shopkeep chuckled as he began climbing down the ladder, "Now then, since I finished, how about we head inside and get some ice-Whoa ooh! WHOA!"

_*Crash!*_

"…You have the worst luck ever, Grandpa, you know that?" Lin drawled, well aware that her grandfather fell off his ladder, and was about to pick him up when she began hearing an unfamiliar voice talking towards their direction

"Tehehe, sorry…"

Turning to the sound of the voice, the old man looked up to see a beautiful looking dark skinned girl with short, mint green hair, red eyes, an intricate green and white top with matching pants and an image of a gem on the back of her top, a pair of heels and what looked like a pair of guns holstered on the back of her pants. The girl gave the man an apologetic smile before lending her arm to help the fallen shopkeep.

"I'm not really from around here…" She said as she helped the man up before reaching into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, which she showed to him, "Um…would you mind pointing me to the direction of this shop?"

"Hmm…?" The man grunted curiously as he stared at the name and address of the shop on the paper, trying to remember where it is, when his granddaughter decided to speak up.

"Hey gramps? What does the lady want?" Lin asked, causing the red eyed girl to blink in surprise, not noticing the blind child earlier.

"Oh, she's just looking for a shop, sweetie. Nothing to worry about," The shopkeep replied while looking at the child while the elder girl simply smiled and kneeled down to her.

"Yeah…I'm having a little trouble finding a certain store, so I'm asking your grandpa for help," She admitted sheepishly while reaching behind her again and pulled out a large green lollipop and showed it to the child. "You want a treat? I always have the biggest lollipops in the world with me. I'm sure you've never seen anything like this before."

"Well…considering that I'm blind and can't see anything, let alone the lollypop you're trying to give me, I'll take your word for it, lady," Lin drawled, surprising the girl before her, before shaking her head to deny the treat. "Thanks for the candy, lady, but I'm not the biggest fan of sweets. I like my food to be more on the meaty side if you know what I mean."

"Oh…well…ok then…" The girl muttered uncomfortably as she pocketed her lollypop, feeling a little embarrassed for not noticing the child's state, before standing up and turned to the old man, "So do you know where the shop is, sir?"

"Uh huh. It's only a few blocks from here. It's not that hard to miss." The shopkeep explained while pointing to the direction of the area in question. "I'll lead you to the street where it's at, as a thank you for helping me."

"Ah, I'd appreciate that," The girl smiled brightly, happy to have met someone to help her, before following the old man and his granddaughter to the street she was looking for.

Once there, the girl began waving goodbye to the duo, her smile turning sheepish when she remembered that the girl was blind and couldn't see her wave, before turning around and headed down the streets. Now knowing where to go, she began heading towards her destination, a small smile on her face as she walked, before she began scowling when a familiar voice came to her ears.

"I knew you were lost…"

Growling in annoyance, the girl turned behind her to see a handsome looking man leaning on a brick wall nearby, staring at her with amused grey eyes, dark silver hair, a black and grey jacket with matching pants and a pair of boots that had what looked like a small bullet bandolier inside of them. Easily recognizing the look, the red eyed girl stomped over towards him while reaching into her pocket once more to reach for something.

"Mercury… I will seriously pay you to shut up…" She growled while waving a wallet to the man's face, who only shook his head in amusement.

"That's not your money…" Mercury stated, knowing that she stole the wallet from the man who helped her.

"But it could be yours for five minutes of silence," She pressed, waving the wallet around, hoping that he would accept the bribe, before grabbing the lollipop she tried to get the blind girl earlier and began waving it as well. "I'll even throw in one of my Emerald Pops as a bonus…"

"Mmm…" The man hummed, seemingly contemplating on whether or not to make the choice, before shaking his head once more, "No deal. Besides, your lollies can rot the teeth of a dentist in one bite. I'd rather keep my pearly whites, thank you very much."

"Hmph… Fine." The girl scowled as she took the money out of the wallet and tossed the empty money vessel into the ground, irritated at her failure before storming away from the amused silver haired guy.

"Whatever…You want me…" He quipped before heading over towards the unamused girl with a chuckle, before turning to her curiously, "So how much farther?"

"A few blocks," The girl replied, causing her companion to groan in boredom.

"Ugh, this place is so dull…" Mercury complained.

"Eh, I kinda like it…" The dark skinned beauty admitted, "Tall buildings, diverse culture-"

"And nice, dopey people who are easy to pickpocket…" Her companion spoke up with a smirk.

"That's every city…" She stated, stopping to stare at the man in annoyance with her hands on her hips.

"Oh Emerald! Master Thief! Please don't take my money! I barely have enough to get by…" Mercury pleaded mockingly, complete with his arms out towards the unamused thief before him and looking down despairingly before looking up at his now infuriated companion's face with a small, amused smile.

The now identified Emerald groaned and scowled at him, wanting nothing more to beat the look on his face with her tooth rotting lollipop, before shaking her head and began walking away from Mercury, who let off a sigh of disappointment at her departing form.

"You're no fun today…" Mercury muttered.

A short while later the two arrived at where they were looking for, a large bookstore. The two entered and were greeted by the sight of piles of books and the sound of humming, most likely coming from the owner of the store, and Mercury had to smirk at the song he was hearing.

"Hmm…Blood Gulch Blues eh? The guy has good taste," The silver haired man muttered, while looking at the books near the door.

Emerald, on the other hand, continued on towards the counter, frowning when she sees no one there. Noticing a service bell, the red eyed girl decided to ring it, and began waiting patiently for a response. Thankfully she didn't have to wait for long…

"Be right there!"

The pair stared at each other, pleased about the response, when a large man carrying a couple stacks of books appeared from the door behind the counter. From the back the pair could see that he was wearing a beige shirt with dark pants, black hair with some sideburns and, from what they heard, a quite polite man.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun!" The man greeted as he set the books down on the counter before checking out his new customers, "How may I…?"

The man's eyes went wide slightly and gasped quietly at the sight of the pair, causing them to mentally smirk to themselves as they knew the man had recognized them. Taking a very quick moment to recompose himself, the man smiled once more and continued to greet the pair.

"How may I help you?" He asked politely.

"Just browsin'," Mercury responded, looking away from the open book in his hand before closing it shut.

"Actually…I was wondering…" Emerald spoke up as she leaned towards the counter. "Do you have any copies of _The Thief and the Butcher_?"

"Yes we do…" The amber eyed man nodded.

"That's great!" The red eyed girl smiled, confusing the man before her.

"Would you…like a copy?" He asked unsurely.

"No. Just wondering," She admitted, turning around when she and the bookstore owner heard Mercury close another book, before speaking up once more. "Oh! Oh! What about…_Violet's Garden_ in paperback?"

"He's got it." Mercury stated while bringing out a book and waved it at the pair. "Hardback too."

"Ooh…options are nice," Emerald said with a grin, her arms crossed and a finger on her face, happy about the knowledge.

"Eh…no pictures," The silver colored teen muttered uncaringly before closing it and turned to the owner once more. "Hey! Do you have any comics?"

"Near the front." The man replied.

"Oh! No, wait!" Emerald spoke up again, catching their attention. "What about…_Third Crusade_?"

The book owner, caught off guard by the request, had to take a moment to respond. As he took a moment, the pair of customers stared at him expectedly, waiting for his response.

"Umm…" The man began slowly. "I… Don't believe we carry that one."

*_slam!*_

"Oh." Mercury muttered, slamming another book shut before he spoke.

"What was this place called again?" Emerald asked amusingly as she leaned on the counter once more.

"Tukson's Book Trade," The man replied calmly.

"And…you're Tuckson?" She continued.

"That's right." He confirmed.

"So then I take it that you're the one who came up with the catchphrase?" Emerald summarized, getting off the table as she spoke.

"Yes," Tukson nodded.

"And…what was it again?" Mercury asked this time.

The bookstore owner sighed in resignation before responding calmly once more, "Tuckson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun."

"Except the _Third Crusade._" The silver teen pointed out.

"It's just a catchphrase," The man muttered.

"It's false advertising!" Mercury countered.

"You shouldn't make a promise you can't keep, Tukson," Emerald spoke up, a small, sinister smile on her face as Mercury went and dimmed the lights, before continuing on. "I hear you're planning on leaving. Moving all the way to Vacuo. Your brothers in the White Fang wouldn't be happy with that."

Mercury smirked as he continued to dim the lights. He enjoyed what he was doing and was getting kind of excited for what might happen. He didn't know what was going to go on next, but he had a feeling, and as he dimmed the last light, he stared at Tukson, his own sinister smile visible even in the dimness of the store.

"And neither are we." Emerald finished.

"_Damn. Just as I feared._" Tukson thought, angry with himself as he began staring coldly at the pair before him.

"You know who we are, don't you?" Emerald asked.

"Yes." The now revealed Faunus said.

"And…you know why we're here?"

"Yes."

Both Emerald and Mercury smirked coldly at Tuckson, taking a bit of pleasure at the sight of their target, the defiance in and coldness in his eyes and voice as he spoke. Mercury walked up to the counter as Emerald began to ask the last question, but both knew what his answer to it will be.

"So. Are you going to fight back?"

Tukson glared fiercely at the pair, knowing full well that this will not end well with him in the end. He had two choices to make and neither were all that good; either turn himself in or fight. He knew what he had to do. He made the decision the moment he recognized the pair enter the store, and mentally prepared himself, for he knew it would be his last stand.

"YES!"

Revealing his claws, the Faunus leaped onto his counter, causing his two enemies to jump back a bit for safety. He began crouching, and was about to leap into action when one last thought went through his mind.

"_I knew I should've told Boss about them. I guess this what they call karma…_" The man thought wryly before steeling himself. "_Well, if it's a fight they want, it's a fight they'll get!_"

With a roar, the man leaped off the counter and attempted to slash Emerald's face off. Unfortunately for him, she ducked just in time, and the man was helpless when he noticed Mercury in front of him, looking ready to kick his face. He saw the bullets in his greaves, and knew then and there he wasn't going to make it.

"_Sorry, Boss. Guess I won't be able to meet you for dinner after all…_"

*_BANG!*_

-A few minutes later-

Their job done, the pair exited the book store and Emerald stretched a little for a job well done. She then turned to Mercury, who had a comic in his hand, and began questioning about it.

"What is that?"

Mercury shrugged, knowing she was going to ask that, and responded nonchalantly, "I like the pictures."

With a shrug, the pair began walking away from the store, Mercury closing the comic in his hand, and started heading towards their boss. As they left, neither of them noticed the black bat that was standing upside down from the sign of the store, nor the fact that it began flying away shortly after they left. And if they turned around, they would've noticed an orange kitten with a blue collar around its neck looking around the block curiously before stopping at the book store. Its ears twitched a bit and its blue eyes focused on the building for a moment before deciding to enter it, not knowing the sight it was going to see.

-Scattered Symphony-

"_Hmmm…It's been a long time since I've seen him. Since I've associated with them. I wonder what they're up to…_" Blake thought to herself as she stared at her notebook, which was filled with notes and images of not only the White Fang emblem, but a rose not like her leader's emblem and an image of a sword wielding man with his back facing towards her. She, like the rest of her friends, were wearing their school uniforms and enjoying their lunch at the cafeteria. It was buffet day and practically every student was their enjoying whatever they wanted to eat, while Blake was focusing on the notebook before her. So engrossed was she, that she wasn't noticing her partner leaning towards her until they were shoulder to shoulder.

"Whatcha doin'?" Yang asked curiously, amused by the startled expression on her feline friend's face.

"Nothing. Just going over notes from last semester." Blake replied calmly as she closed her book, causing Weiss, who was sitting beside her and Levy, who was sitting in front of her, to stare at her in respect and approval

_*fwew!*_

_*chomp!*_

"Lame!" The brawler's muffled voice stated, her mouth filled with food, and the three girls turned to the next table see Nora and Ash giggling, the mischief making trio enjoying themselves with orange bomber launching green grapes at the blonde brawler's mouth, with the red headed powerhouse sitting in front of herr with other food in his tray. Beside the bomber were the rest of her team and her bow wielding friend, with Ren beside her and Pyrrha and Jaune sitting together next to him. Dia, on the other hand, was sitting next to her partner enjoying a plate of lemon meringue pie that Levy made for her earlier. The quartet stared back at them, amused by their surprised reactions, when Nora placed another grape on her spoon and was about to launch it at her friend's mouth before Ash leaned towards her.

The shotgunner began whispering into the grenadier's ear, pointing at a certain spot in front of the fencer, and all turned to the direction to see a certain napping ninja with his head down, a tray full of food beside him and snoozing away without a care in the world. Realizing what the two were plaining to do, Yang began nodding furiously at Nora, who grinned widely in response and changed her target from the brawler's mouth to the ninja's head, specifically the top of his head, where his glasses were located at.

"Uh, hey guys?" Weiss spoke up, "I don't think this is a-"

Before she had a chance to finish, Nora fired, the small fruit zooming off the spoon and hitting the ninja's glasses, but instead of going splat, it actually bounced off the spectacles and over the table, before landing squarely into the yellow maiden's mouth. Satisfied with the execution and the fact that their sleeping comrade did not wake up from being used at a target, Yang gave a thumbs up to Nora and Ash held up a sign with the number ten on it in her honor. Everyone else looked quite amused with the display and were about to congratulate the girl when a certain red rose decided to let her presence be known.

*_Bam!*_

"_Zzzz…Pop…keep it down…you'll wake Mom up…Zzzz…_"

"And here I thought Ren was a heavy sleeper," Jaune muttered in amusement, not at all surprised that the loud noise failed to wake up the slumbering ninja.

"Ahe-he-hem!" A childish voice coughed, and everyone turned to see Ruby standing at the edge of the table, a large, heavy binder before her that was used to make the noise. The girl had serious face, an odd thing to see on the normally cheerful and energetic fifteen year old, and began speaking as if she was the leader of a country, which was not far off considering she was indeed a leader. A leader of a team of huntresses-in-training, but a leader nonetheless.

"Sisters! Friends! Weiss…!"

"Hey!"

"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream."

"This ought to be good," Yang commented quietly before opening her mouth to allow a cherry to enter her mouth provided by Nora.

"A dream that one day that the four of us, no, the twelve of us, as a huge team, and have the most fun anyone has ever had. Ever!"

"Did you steal my binder?" Weiss asked, seeing the title of the binder that was crossed off and noticing that it was the activity binder she made over the week.

"She stole my binder too. I'm still waiting for it…" Levy spoke up, recalling that the young hood wearing girl also had her medical binder according to Yang and was still waiting to get it back.

"I am not a crook." Ruby assured, her hands holding up peace signs to emphasize the point.

"Feh, yeah. And I cannot tell a lie," Dia scoffed quietly in in amusement.

"…What are you talking about," Blake asked, wanting to get to the bottom of her leader's rambling.

"I'm talking about kicking off the semester with a bang!" The young rose announced.

"I always kick my semesters off with a Yang!" The notorious pun maker grinned, turning to her groaning friends in hopes to see someone would support her and happy that her lightning powered friend was asleep. There was no one to through something at her for making puns and she was going to take advantage of it.

"Ehh!? Guys? Am I right?"

*_Bop!*_

"Boooo!" Nora jeered and, despite his slumbering, Baltazar began to feel deep amounts of pride and respect towards the bomber, yet he wasn't sure why.

Not to be deterred by the bad pun, Ruby continued on, "Look guys, it's been a good two weeks, what with my little daycare fiasco, Weiss almost getting married, our little outing to the beach and our impromptu story session yesterday."

"We have to do something like that again. I quite enjoyed it," Pyrrha spoke up, getting nods of approval from most of the others, including Ruby, before the young leader continued on.

"And with more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great! But classes start back up tomorrow. Which is why I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today!"

"I don't know whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store," Weiss admitted with a small scowl, still irritated at Ruby for stealing her binder, as Yang stood up and tossed a green apple at Nora. Unfortunately for the blonde, her aim was off and the fruit ended up hitting someone else that was close by.

*_Conk!*_

"Ow! Why do people always go for my head!?" Ash whined while rubbing the back of his head.

"Yang, I don't mean to be rude, but I have to say this. That was the worst throw I've ever seen… Ever… Of all time…" Ren muttered in disapproval.

"Not my fault. Someone put a flirt in my way." Yang stated before chucking another apple, this time hitting its mark and causing Nora to squeak in pain.

"I don't know," Blake spoke up, unaffected by the food toss incident, and catching both Weiss and Levy's attention "I'm not really all that up to it right now. I think I might sit this one out."

"Blake, are you sure?" Levy asked in concern, thinking that there was something wrong with her friend.

"Yes, Levy, I'm sure. I think I'll read something instead, if you guys don't mind," Blake suggested.

"Sit out or not, I think however we spend this last day, we should do it as a team." Weiss stated firmly, surprising Blake slightly by the heiress's effort for doing group activities today.

As this was happening Nora seized the opportunity to grab another object, graciously provided by Ash and was getting ready to toss it.

"You can't beat the classics, Bombette. Use this and you'll win for sure! You got it?" Ash grinned.

"I got it!" Nora grinned, unaware that Dia and Yang were staring at her in horror.

"Nora, wait, don't throw that!" Dia hissed while Yang put her arms up and waved them frantically in hopes that her friend listened to her fellow blonde's words. The rest of team JNPR, realizing what was in their grenadier's hand and begged her to not throw it, but their voices were not heard until it was too late.

Not noticing any of this, Levy and the rest of team RWBY were listening to Weiss, who decided to stand up in order to make suggestion for her leader.

"I for one think that-"

*_Splat!*_

"_¡Mi Tarta!_"

The girls of RWBY were stunned in shock as soon as they saw the pie hit the heiress's face while Levy looked like she was ready to cry, seeing the pie she made especially for her friend had just been used as a projectile. As soon as the tin fell off her face, Weiss and the other girls turned attention to the other table, where they say Nora pointing at Ren, Ren himself facepalming, Pyrrha covering her mouth in surprise, Jaune with a hand on his face and his mouth agape, Ash covering his mouth with his fist to muffle his laughter and Dia slamming her head on the table muttering that they were doomed now. It was at this moment that the once napping ninja decided to wake up.

"Mmmm…that was a good nap," Baltazar muttered, completely unaware of what just happened, and turned looked around to check up on his friends. Noticing their looks of shock, and large amount of his cousin's pie on the fencer's face, the groggy ninja only had one thing to say.

"So…what did I miss?"

-Outside the cafeteria-

Sun Wukong, a stowaway from another kingdom and a friend of Blake, was happily talking to a suave looking blue haired teen beside him, who was wearing a white dress shirt and tie under a red sweater, dark grey pants, gloves and boots, and a pair of googles on his head. The blonde Faunus explaining what had happened to him and all the friends he made during his time in Vale and he was sure his friend was enjoying it if the amused expression on his face was anything to go by.

"Heh. Man, that's harsh." The blue haired teen commented.

"So then we were fighting side by side. And she and the little cat were super-fast and I threw a banana at a guy. Which sounds gross, but it was awesome!" Sun grinned.

"Nice," The teen smiled.

"Right? And the best part is she's a Faunus!" Sun explained happily, but covered his mouth when he realized what he said. Worried, the blonde monkey turned to his friend once more and spoke frantically. "But that's a secret, ok!"

"Got it…" The goggled teen said.

"And not a 'I'm gonna go tell Scarlet the second Sun turns his back' secret! I'm talking _secret_ secret, ok Neptune?!" Sun insisted.

"Whoa, chill out man. Ok, I got it." Neptune said calmly, staring straight into his friend's eyes as he said it and whispered once more for good measure, "Got it…"

"You better," Sun grumbled, ignoring Neptune's scoff, "I just don't wanna screw this up, ya know. The people here are the coolest! No offense to you guys."

"None taken." Neptune stated, unaware of what was happening inside the cafeteria as the pair walked passed the window, such as people tossing their lunch around and various amounts of fruit, and Jaune, being slammed into the window.

"Ok, they're just in here!" Sun spoke up as they stopped at the entrance to the still unknown madhouse known as the cafeteria. "I'm really excited for you to meet them, so be cool, ok? You're gonna be cool, right?"

"Dude," Neptune grinned with his arms crossed, showing off an effective cool pose at his friend, complete with his shiny white teeth twinging for a moment.

"…Good point." Sun conceded, and was about to open the door when he heard something calling out to them. Or meowing, to be specific.

"Mow! Meow-Rowl!"

"Eh?" The pair grunted in confusion, and turned to see a black cat with blue eyes and a matching collar and small gauntlets on its forepaws jogging towards Sun, who smiled brightly at the sight of him.

"Hey, hey! It's Charcoal! How ya been, little guy!?" Sun greeted enthusiastically as he kneeled down to pet the cat, who was purring happily at his touch.

"Mowww. Mrow ma mama mow. Meow rowl-ow!" The cat explained, confusing Neptune greatly and causing Sun to nod in understanding.

"I see. You had a delivery to the headmaster and decided to take a small detour to visit the others before you head back eh?" Sun asked for clarification, surprising Neptune and getting a nod of confirmation from the black cat before him, "We're actually about to meet up with them now. Wanna join us?"

"Mew!" Charcoal mewed happily and proceeded to jump onto Sun's head, causing him to laugh at the cat's antics.

"…Since when can you speak cat?" Neptune asked.

"Learned it from a fourteen year old, five-foot four-inch genius metal smith after he came back from vacation last week. Cool guy, so long as you don't mention his height. He's sensitive about it," Sun explained, with Charcoal actually nodding to confirm what he said, much to Neptune's surprise.

"Uh… Ok then." The blue eyed teen muttered, before the pair entered the cafeteria, and barely had time to think when they heard two words that any teenager would be excited to hear.

"FOOD FIGHT!"

Neptune looked around in confusion while Sun and Charcoal had excited expressions glued to their faces as student after student began rushing out of the hall, all while repeating the phrase 'Food Fight'. The blue haired man was wondering why they were running away from what could be considered a good old academy past time when he began to hear the sounds of a madwoman cackling.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"

Turning their attention to what was in front of them, they were greeted by the sight of a tower of tables, with team JNPR standing on them and Nora on top of the tower, her hands on her hips and announcing her ascension to the throne proudly and manically.

On another table stood team RWBY, with the leader glaring at the Table Castle and began stomping on her stand, a carton of Udder Satisfaction milk in her hands and pointing at the fortress before her, hell-bent on taking it down.

"Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful!"

*_sploosh!*_

"It will be DELICIOUS!" The leader cried out, squeezing her milk so hard it practically that it exploded, and raised her fist to the air, prompting her team to do the same and cry out alongside her.

"YEAH!"

"Hah! You may be an awesome team, but we got something you don't!" Nora taunted before reaching into her skirt and pulled out two marble sized balls, one light green and the other a dark grey. "Come forth, my soldier and archer!"

With a toss towards the vending machine, the two balls slammed into the ground and produced a cloud of smoke that was a mix of the color the balls were. A few seconds later, the smoke dissipated, and from it, came Dia and Ash, both of them with excited smirks and looking ready to fight.

"Oh yeah!? You may got a soldier and an archer, but we got a ninja and a medic!" Ruby countered and snapped her fingers. A few seconds later Levy showed up in a blur while Baltazar simply appeared in thin air, both of them glaring at the tower and ready to give it their all.

Seeing that everyone was here, Nora smirked once more and jumped from her pedestal and onto her ammunition, a load of water melons, and gave her army a single command.

"Off with their heads!"

With that, the team sprang into action. Ren was first, and started off with catapulting three watermelons into the air and kicked them at his enemies. Then came Jaune, who grabbed a single melon and tossed it hard, with Pyrrha following up with a couple of her own. Ash, being the showoff that he was, grabbed a stack of three melons himself and tossed them into the air, before executing three perfect back hands, each of them launching a pair of melons. Dia, instead of tossing her fruit like the others, simply launched a pair of them from a larger makeshift catapult than the one Ren used and Nora finished off the first wave by tossing a tableful of melons.

"Incoming MMDs!" Levy cried out.

"Yang! Turkey! Baltazar, Cheddar!" Ruby ordered, prompting the pair in question to rush over to the items their commander stated; a pair of turkeys and a large plate of sliced cheddar cheese.

With their weapons in hand, Yang pounded her new turkey fists together while Baltazar stood beside him and showed off his new arsenal of cheese shuriken and spread them up like a hand of cards. Glaring at the incoming fruit, Baltazar opened fire, and launched a flurry of sharp cheddar at the melons, slicing many of them into perfect cuts, while Yang went and punched a few that managed to not get hit. Seeing some that the both of them missed, the two jumped away to avoid them. Now out of ammunition, the tiger ninja noticed a baguette beside him and grabbed it. Seeing her comrade in arms with a new weapon, the pair nodded at one another and rushed towards the melon storm and began beating away the fruits with the power of poultry and wheat.

Seeing a chance to assist, Blake and Levy rushed ahead and jumped over their respective. Acquiring new weapons of their own, a pair of baguettes for Blake and two leeks for Levy, the two slid ahead and took out a few melons as well, before the fire and lightning pair arrived and destroyed another set with a couple of good kicks. Seeing her chance, Yang fired her turkeys toward her and in the direction of her fellow blonde, Jaune.

Seeing the once flightless fowls now flying right towards him, the blonde leader's eyes went wide and ducked from the first turkey, before jumping over the second one, while Pyrrha rolled away to safety, and gave Jaune a proud smile before tossing one of the baguettes she acquired to him. Pleased with himself, and grateful to Pyrrha, the now armed breadsman pointed his weapon at his opponents, but frowned when he noticed something off about the attackers.

"Wait a minute…I only see the girls. Where is…?"

Before he could finish his question, a sudden chill went through the leader's back, and quickly turned around just in time to block a bread swipe from the lone man in the other team. Smirking at his opponent, Baltazar zipped to the other side of Jaune and launched another strike to the man's unprotected back. He was successful, and managed to slam Jaune away, and proceeded to go after him. Pyrrha, knowing full well that the ninja thrived on one on one fights such as this, was about to head over to help when she began sensing another presence. Turning around, she only had a moment's noticed before she jumped away to avoid Blake and her twin bread assault. Landing beside Jaune, who managed to send Baltazar back towards Blake with a lucky blow to the chest, the two turned to each other and nodded, before lunging over to the ninja duo and found themselves in a four way deadlock: Blake vs. Pyrrha and Baltazar vs. Jaune.

A few seconds later the red and blonde couple jumped back and swiped at their foes' bodies, only to find themselves hitting nothing but an after image and a blue light. Looking confused briefly, the couple only had a moment's notice before the ninjas appeared behind them and began their assault. Pyrrha avoided the assault but Jaune allowed himself to be hit and skid back, knowing he could take the hit. The dual duel continued once more, bread clashing constantly and blows being dodged before the black and blue duo used their tricks once more to get themselves into the air, and the pair launched another assault: with Blake launching one of her baguettes while Baltazar opted for one of the slices of watermelon he acquired during the initial assault.

Pyrrha, seeing the incoming assault, jumped away to avoid getting hit. Jaune however, wasn't so lucky, and took a bread loaf to the head before his stomach was pelted by melon slices before he was blown away by the force. Undaunted, the red haired maiden rushed forward and lunged her baguette at Blake, making a successful hit and launching her away, but destroying her weapon in the process. Baltazar looked away to check on his beaten comrade, but that proved to be a mistake, as immediately after, his back was rained down upon by a multitude of carrots, causing him to go down. Turning around, Pyrrha smiled as she saw that it was Dia who fired the carrots, who turned a few stalks of celery into a makeshift bow and using string cheese as the string. Giving her long range friend a nod, the pair then launched their respective weapons at their next target: Yang.

Seeing the incoming bread and carrot assault, Yang did her best to knock away the incoming projectiles, but failed to notice one baguette heading towards her until it was too late. After seeing her sister flying, Ruby sprang into action herself and grabbed a food tray. Sliding on the table, the young rose began sliding left and right, avoiding the incoming bread and carrots, before jumping off and used her tray to send the incoming food items back, causing them to move away to avoid being hit. Concerned, Dia rushed over to assist, but that proved to be a mistake as Ruby continued to slide over toward the ponytailed pair and slammed her tray onto the pair, knocking them back, with Dia flying farther due to her smaller and lighter frame.

Seeing their friends down, Nora, Ren and Ash leapt into action and charged right at Ruby. The young rose, seeing their incoming forms, jumped away and allowed the childhood friends to get to work. With Weiss holding a bottle of ketchup and Levy two bottles of mustard, the two went on the offensive. Doing a quick spin, Weiss sprayed her bottle to the ground creating a mist of red and a blanket of ketchup on the ground while Levy settled for standing behind the heiress and began firing small globs of mustard at her foes repeatedly. The plan was considered a one out of three, as the combination only managed to affect Ren. Due to the combination of the slippery floor and the somewhat forceful condiment assault, the martial artist fell to the ground and slid into a pile of chairs, causing him and the other chairs to fly away. Using the flying debris to their advantage, the mischief making duo jumped on the airborne tables and grabbed a pair of flag poles on opposite ends of the room. Meeting together in the middle, the two swung their poles and dug them deep into their weapons of choice, a melon and a large cheese wheel with two slices missing, making it looked like a bow. Grinning to each other and to their new weapons, the two swung their fruit and dairy items and were about to strike the heiress and medic, but were foiled by the combined appearance of their respective leaders.

Taking the blows, Ruby and Baltazar, who managed to recover from the beta carotene assault in time to help, were launched away from their partners, forcing them to fight for themselves once again. Rolling away from the red and orange nightmares, Levy grabbed a loaf of wheat bread and split it in two before shoving them into her hand in a similar fashion to Yang while Weiss went for a different weapon, a swordfish. Meat and bread on hand, literally in one case, the pair zoomed over to their foes and struck their blows on them, launching them a fair ways away from them. Shaking off the blow easily, the two heavy hitters launched their assault on the light weights, easily blocking their strikes, before slamming them hard, causing Levy to slam into her unsuspecting cousin and into a nearby wall, while Weiss ended up crashing into a pillar, destroying it in the process.

Ruby, now recovered from the heavy blows themselves and the latter having lost his glasses in the flight, noticed Weiss and the falling pillar, and rushed over to her. She managed to get her, but became frantic when she noticed her state.

"Weiss! Weiss! Don't leave me!" Ruby begged, wishing for her partner to come back, before turning to the only one who could help.

"Medic! We need our Medic!"

"I'm sorry, Ruby, but it's too late. There's nothing I can do…for either of them…" Levy muttered sadly, gesturing to the shinobi she crashed into, and caused the cloaked girl to gasp when she noticed that he was passing as well.

"I can't…go on…" Baltazar muttered, his voice heavy as he slowly began to drift away. "_Lo siento…mis amigos. Hasta…la otra…vida…_"

With that, the ninja closed his eyes and allowed the darkness to consume him. Levy let off a depressed sigh, knowing that there was nothing she could do, and turned to Ruby. The medic shook her head sadly, and it was all the young reaper needed in order to figure out what just happened.

"No…not Baltazar too! Not Baltazar Too!" Ruby cried, not caring about the fallen pillar behind her, and shouted towards the heavens as the pillar crashed onto the ground.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Yang, who saw the defeat of two of her comrades, rushed passed her sister and former roommate, shoved her fist into a new pair of turkeys and began rushing over to the battlefield with renewed vigor. Seeing the fiery blonde in action prompted Levy to move as well, causing her to rush over to her friend's side, grabbing a new bread loaf in the process.

As this was happening, both Ren and Dia got out of their fort, now somewhat recovered, and rushed over to the battlefield, grabbing a pair of leeks on the way for combat. With roar cries from the four of them, the two met in the middle and clashed, Ren leeks blocking Yang's kick and Levy blocking Dia's leeks through her wheat. After a short moment in deadlock, the fire and water duo launched their attack, proving their close combat prowess by firing multiple blows and strikes on the dual wielding duo. Attempting to fight back, the two flower fighters struck back, but unfortunately they became overpowered or outmaneuvered, and with a few more blows, the two were launched in the air by their foes. Not going down without a fight though, the two flipped in mid-air, with Dia hovering above Ren, and the magenta eyed teen allowed his weapons to be touched by the girl above him, who's eyes changed from their normal bright green to a much darker shade. Leeks now glowing, the duo fired their weapons at their foes, hoping that the added boost of tracking would be able to turn the tides.

Unfortunately for the airborne pair, the two girls managed to jump away just as the leeks were closing in on them, causing the stalks of veggies to embed themselves onto the ground. Now weaponless, the two were defenseless when their foes joined them in the air, and were forced to take strong blows from them. Ren was struck hard downwards, causing the table below him to break, while Dia was sent clear towards the vending machines and crashed right behind them. Landing on their feet, Yang and Levy only had a short moment's rest before jumping away to avoid the deadly combination of fruit and dairy caused by the two heavy hitters.

Not backing down, the four teens rushed towards one another, meat, bread, fruit and dairy getting ready for one large clash. While Yang and Levy were fast, Nora and Ash were faster at this moment, and the elemental duo were taken out by the heavy hitters, with Yang flying clear to the roof and crashing through it, and Levy being slammed to the ground so hard she actually made a crater in the ground and ended up being buried underneath a pile of roof rubble.

Seeing her comrades now out of the playing field and her opponents now weaponless, Blake backflipped away from the leftover debris and grabbed a long chain of hotlinks. Whipping the meat around her, the kunoichi launched her attack on the two powerhouses, successfully knocking them back and sending Nora into the soda machines and Ash into the tables.

With her soldier now out of commission due to being buried under a pile of tables, Nora rolled towards and began throwing a few cans of sodas at her opponent, causing them to explode as soon as the landed. As this was happening, Pyrrha began to get up, and, noticing the multiple _metal_ cans around her, slammed her hand onto the ground, causing them to float all around her and began firing at Blake, who was unable to protect herself from the savage onslaught and wound up being launched away to the end of the cafeteria, now down for the count.

Seeing her comrades have all been taken out in one way or another, Ruby glared at her opponents and, taking a moment to ready herself, sprinted towards them so fast that everything began to follow her, from soda cans to the leftover food. Team JNPR, along with Ash and Dia, could only watch in horror as what looked like a red missile began heading right towards them, with a tornado of debris following close by. None were prepared for Ruby when she zoomed passed them, and they were definitely not prepared when the tornado came right on top of them and blew them towards the wall where Ruby stopped at, a multitude of cracks on it due to the force of her stopping. They then see the young teen jump up and away from them, and the six of them were helpless when all the food, plates and sodas that followed her began crashing into them. The onslaught continued for a while and as soon as it was over, the six of them were covered head to toe in food and soda, the wall they were pinned to looking similarly to modern art, and it wasn't until Ruby landed that they fell to the ground, defeated.

"I love these guys." Sun chirped with a wide grin. Neptune on the other hand was not happy, he himself having become covered in a load of People Like Grapes Soda during the course of the food fight, and settled for glaring at the happy Faunus beside him before noticing something off.

"Hey…what happened to that cat that-"

*_Slam!*_

Before Neptune could finish what he wanted to ask, Glynda Goodwitch appeared from behind the foreign pair, growling in annoyance at the sight of the destroyed cafeteria, and proceeded to repair it with a flick of her crop. A few seconds later, the room looked good as new, as if it wasn't the subject of a large war just moments ago, and the instructor focused her attention to the ones who orchestrated the fiasco, her annoyance obvious to all who see it.

"Children, please… do not play with your food." Glynda stated, her teeth gritting at the sight of the eleven food and soda covered students before her; team JNPR to her left, team BLAD in the center, and the remains of team RWBY to her right. Yang still had yet to appear, and the instructor was about to reprimand them again when she and the others heard a loud burp. They turned to Nora, the source of the burp, and before anyone could say anything, a loud rumbling was heard and from it came Yang, who had finally returned from her flight and crashed right to the ground, specifically on Ash, who was standing with team RWBY at the time.

"Oh…that's gotta hurt," Dia winced before taking a look the state of her partner and fellow blonde, and went wide eyed at what she saw before letting off a long wolf whistle. "Whoa man, finally getting some with Yang, eh? Took you long enough."

Confused by what the archer was talking about, the others took a look at where Yang landed and gaped at what they saw: Yang straddling Ash and their lips together in a kiss. A forceful one too if the crash was anything to go by. The two flirts remained lip-locked for a short while before Yang ended the kiss and sat up on Ash's waist. She then touched her lips with her fingers, and a faint blush began to form on her face as the kiss began playing on her head, along with other thoughts.

"Huh…wasn't expecting mint. I expected him to have more of a cinnamon flavored, to be honest," Yang muttered, a bemused expression on her face, before standing up and looked down at the clearly dazed redhead. "Hey, Ash? You ok? And just to let you know, I'm not normally this forceful when it comes to kissing, but if it's your thing, then I won't complain."

Knowing that he was in a daze, the others were not expecting a response, so when they heard him speak, it came as a surprise for them all, but all began smiling after they heard what he said.

"Best…Day…Ever…"

The statement set off everyone into a fit of laughter, angering the instructor, who now had another few holes to patch up. She was about to head over to her students to teach them a lesson when she felt a familiar hand grab her shoulder.

"Let it go." A calm voice stated, and Glynda turned to see Professor Ozpin behind her, looking at her calmly before turning his focus to the laughing students. The blonde instructor let off a frustrated sigh, obeying the headmaster's request, before turning to the teens as well.

"They're supposed to be the defenders of the world." Glynda muttered.

"And they will be. But right now they're still children. So why not let them play the part?" Ozpin asked, giving his old friend a gentle squeeze on the shoulder, before turning away and began heading towards the door, leaving the professor with one last word in.

"After all, it isn't a role they'll have forever."

-Scattered Symphony-

It was later in the afternoon, close to evening to be exact, when Mercury and Emerald arrived at their final destination of the day; a warehouse full of White Fang soldiers and many carts and crates full of what was mostly like Dust. The pair entered the building, none of the soldiers stopping them despite being human, and the two continued on until they reached a certain part of the room, which was a certain white suited man. Noticing their presence, he turned around, revealing to be Roman Torchwick, and began greeting them in his own, special way.

"Oh look, she sent the kids again," The renowned thief cooed mockingly as he walked over to the two teens and gave them each a one arm hugged. "This is turning out just like the divorce."

"Spare us the thought of you procreating…" Emerald muttered while shuttering as she and Mercury pushed the thief away from them.

"That was a joke…" Roman stated while pulling out a piece of paper, one that looked quite familiar to the green haired girl, "And this…just might tell me where you two have been all day."

"What!?" Emerald gasped, realizing that it was her paper that was in her hand.

"I'm a professional, sweetheart. Pay attention and maybe you'll learn something." Roman explained.

"I'm sure she has learned quite a bit, Roman. All she needs is the experience and she'll end up being a better thief than you…" A deep, smooth voice stated, and the three of them turned to see a man with long black hair leaning on a nearby wall, the man himself wearing a black dress shirt with matching pants and shoes, a maroon overcoat that reached the bottom of his legs, long, pointed ears and a pair of blood red eyes, with the pupils narrowed to vertical slits. All of them recognized the man, but it was Mercury who greeted the newcomer.

"Hey, Duke! What's up, man? It's been a while!" Mercury said with a wave to the red eyed Bat Faunus.

"Indeed, Mercury. I had some missions I had to take care of and I needed to stop at a repair shop in town in order to get my weapon repaired. A minor drawback for being a professional huntsman, but nothing I can't handle," Duke explained calmly.

"I like the new look. Much better than that stupid tuxedo you wore before," Emerald admitted, looking at the older man approvingly.

"It was a gift from my sister Kira when I met up with her a few weeks ago. She always has good tastes in clothing." Duke smirked before turning to Roman with mild interest. "Now Roman, I know you were curious as to where these two were at, but if you really wanted to find them, why didn't you ask me? I knew where they were the whole time."

"Eh! You knew where we went?!" Emerald questioned in surprise while Mercury quirked an eyebrow in his direction.

"Of course. There are few things that escape my vision. Or hearing, to be exact," The man stated as he brought his hand up and pointed a finger straight ahead of him. A moment later, a small black bat arrived and perched itself on the Faunus's finger, causing Mercury to chuckle at the sight, Emerald to coo at the flying mammal, and Roman to sneer at the maroon coated man.

"Feh, I'd rather do things by myself, thank you very much. I don't need help," The thief muttered in distain before taking a good look at the paper in his hand, growing more annoyed when he realized what it was. "Why do you have this address?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Emerald scoffed.

"Yeah, I would!" Roman stated, walking up to the pair to confront them. "Now, where have you been all day?"

"Cleaning up your problems. One of them, at least" Mercury spoke up.

"I had that under control." Roman stated with a slight growl in his tone.

"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise," Duke chimed in, well aware of what they were talking about.

"Shut up, bat man. Nobody asked you!" Roman growled before turning to the pair, both of them having smug expressions on their faces, and focused on Mercury. "Listen you little punk, if it were up to me, I would take you and your little street-rat friend here, and I would-"

"Do what, Roman?"

Startled by the sultry voice above them, Roman turned his head and looked up to see an amber eyed woman looking down at him, her raven colored hair and intricate red dress making her easily recognizable to the quartet from below.

"Hahaha…I'd, uh…not killed them?" Roman finished sheepishly, not wanting to incur the wrath of the woman before him as she descended towards them on the elevator.

"Cinder!" Emerald crowed, happy to see the woman, unlike the other thief beside her.

"I thought I made it clear that you were to eliminate the would-be runaway." Cinder questioned as she walked up to her employee.

"I was going to!" Roman muttered through grit teeth.

"He was going to escape to Vacuo. Mercury and I decided to take it upon ourselves to kill the rat." Emerald spoke up as Mercury walked up to her.

"I think he was some sort of cat actually." Mercury said.

"What, like a puma?" Emerald asked jokingly.

"Yeah, there ya go," Mercury quipped back.

"Quiet!" Cinder called out, unaware of Roman's childish gestures to the pair. "Did I not specifically instruct you two to keep your hands clean while in Vale?"

"S-Sorry, Cinder," Emerald apologized while Mercury took note of Roman's taunting, "I just thought-"

"Don't think. Obey," Cinder interrupted, her voice firm as she spoke, once again either not noticing or ignoring Roman's taunting.

"…Yes, ma'am. It won't happen again," Emerald promised.

"They did obey, technically." Duke spoke up, "The only one who did the deed was Mercury, and he used his greaves to take him out. So, in the end, they did kept their hands clean. Just not their feet."

"Duke…you have quite the way with words, don't you?" Cinder asked with a small smirk.

"Comes with being the son of a police chief. You pick up a few things here and there," The huntsman admitted.

"Understandable," The woman nodded before turning her attention to Roman, who began to laugh nervously at the attention, "And you… Why wasn't this job done sooner?"

Roman simply made a small grunt before gesturing to a pile of crates full of Dust, before turning to another pile and finally ending at the ones behind him, all while grunting to emphasize his point.

"Sorry if I've been a little busy stealing every speck of Dust in the kingdom!" The thief exclaimed.

"You're an inspiration to every punk with a gun and a ski-mask," Mercury droned as Emerald began to giggle at the joke.

"I'd hope you took time to make sure no one that you stole from had any fire or bottles of urine on hand. I heard those are useful tools to find someone who is sneaking about," Duke suggested with a smirk.

"Oh up yours, you cocky vampire!" Roman growled, a certain finger flipped up at the amused huntsman, before gesturing to the crates he stole once more, "Look around. I got this town running scared. Police camping out at every corner. Dust prices through the roof. And, we're sitting pretty in an old warehouse with more Dust crystals, vials and rounds than we know what do with!"

The man then paused for a moment, his back turned away from his co-conspirators as he was explaining the results of his work, before turning around to address another issue that was on his mind. "Speaking of which. If you guys wouldn't mind filling me in on your grand-master plan, it might actually make my next string of robberies go a little smoother!"

"Oh Roman, have a little faith," Cinder cooed as she walked over to the orange haired man, placing a hand on his face as she continued, "You'll know what you need when you need to know it."

Roman said nothing for a while and simply stared Cinder, and not a moment longer he saw her eyes began to glow. Knowing that he wasn't going to get any more info, he scoffed quietly and turned his head away.

"Besides, we're done with Dust." The woman added in, surprising the thief with the revelation.

"Ok…Then what now?" He couldn't help but ask.

"We're moving." Cinder stated as she began heading out. "Have the White Fang clear out this building. I'll send you details and coordinates tonight."

"Coordinates?" Roman repeated in confusion.

"We're proceeding to phase two," Cinder smirked before turning to Duke. "Caldera needs to know about this. Do you wish to inform her or shall I?"

"I actually have somewhere I need to be pretty soon, so I'd prefer it if you do it, if you don't mind," Duke admitted, walking up to the woman and standing right next to her.

"I see," Cinder nodded before turning to the two kids. "So…does anyone want to accompany our good friend Duke on his little…errand?"

"I'll do it. It'll be a good chance to catch up," Mercury requested with his hands up, and with a nod, the four of them began heading out of the warehouse, leaving Roman to himself.

Growling in annoyance, the man grabbed a cigar and placed it in his mouth. He then began looking for his lighter, only to realize that it wasn't on him for some reason. He then heard a clicking sound, and scowled when he saw Emerald with it and had it lit. The girl stuck out her tongue at the man, further infuriating the man, before closing the lighter with a resounding click.

-Scattered Symphony-

"So, Duke, where are we heading?" Mercury asked with his arms behind his head as he and the Faunus before him were wandering around the streets of Vale.

"We are heading to one of the best repair shops in the city of Vale, Mercury," Duke explained. "I am very well acquainted with the owner, and I left my sword with him to get it repaired. I also sprung in a little extra to have it redesigned, and I'm looking forward to see its new look."

"Really? If it's as good as you say, maybe I'll get this guy to check up my greaves sometime…" Mercury suggested.

"Mmm. I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Duke shrugged before stopping right in front of a building. "Here we are."

"Hmm?" The silver haired teen grunted, and looked up to read the sign, "Relámpagos Repairs, where we fix whatever you broke in the speed of lightning. Sounds a little presumptuous, don't ya think?"

"Maybe, but if there's anyone who's able to pull off such a feat, it is him," Duke stated before reaching to the door and opened it.

The two entered, and were welcomed to the sight of various amounts of items and tools hanging on the wall. From simple appliances and toys to complex weapons and machines, Mercury let off an impressed whistle as soon as he took note of everything he saw.

"Whoa man, this guy does it all, eh?" Mercury asked, very impressed by the things he was seeing.

"That's right. And he has quite the legacy as well," Duke confirmed before walking towards the empty counter, and Mercury couldn't help but smirk at the similar situation he was in, although he doubt the outcome of this particular visit will end up the same.

"Excuse me! Is anyone here!? I'm back for my order!" Duke announced politely.

"Hold on, Duke! Give me a second!" A young voice answered, which was not what Mercury was expecting at all.

"Hmm? So he's helping out as well? Like father, like son, I suppose," Duke mused.

"…Did I just hear a kid answer your call, Duke?" Mercury couldn't help but ask.

"He's a huntsman-in-training, to be exact, and a fairly strong one if his weapon is anything to go by," Duke explained before a cool, if not hungry, smirk appeared on his lips, "Maybe I should spar with him sometime to gauge his strength. It's been a while since I dueled against a member of his family."

"And end up being sent to the hospital shortly after you pummel me to a pulp? I'd rather take my chances with Big Sis when she's angry than you when you're bored." The young voice repeated, and the duo turned to see a young teen coming out of the door. The boy had mocha colored skin, short black hair with brown eyes, a blue hoodie underneath a thin red vest, a pair of reddish-brown pants and matching boots that reached his knees. The young boy stared at the duo curiously, specifically at Mercury, before turning his attention to the one who called him.

"Hey there, Duke. How have you been?" The boy asked politely.

"I'm doing well, Cordovan. Thank you for asking," Duke smiled.

"It's Cody, Duke. Nobody calls me Cordovan anymore," Cody stated with a sigh before turning to Mercury. "So…who are you? Are you a customer wanting to get something fixed or what?"

"Oh, don't mind me. I'm just following Duke here," Mercury admitted, his curious gaze focusing on the short boy behind the counter. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, aren't you a little young to be manning the counter of a repair shop that accepts orders to fix up, among other things, weapons of mass destruction?"

"Why yes. Yes I am." Cody confirmed.

"Don't let the boy's age fool you, Mercury," Duke spoke up. "Young Cody here is considered a prodigy of the forge. While his family is known to be amongst the best weapon makers in the kingdom, he specifically has enough talent to put them all to shame. There are very few things that this boy can't make."

"Really?" Mercury drawled in disbelief, unaware of the darkening gaze he was getting from a certain forger. "You mean to tell me that this little runt is-"

"WHO YA CALLING A RUNT?!" The boy shouted, startling the silver haired teen, and jumped on the counter, his eyes narrowing to slits and turning blue on the process. The boy then reached behind him and pulled out a large looking bladed riffle, the weapon once being in two halves on top of one another before snapping together.

"_Well…isn't this quite the coincidence…_" Mercury thought in dark amusement, and was about to ready himself to kick another foolish Faunus when another person decided to make his presence known.

"Easy, there, son. You start school soon and I'd hate to let Qrow and Taiyang know their 'favorite' student wasn't able to see them for the next semester." A relaxed voice joked, and the two older men looked to see that there was man around the teen's height standing behind the counter, holding him back by the hood. The man had a sapphire colored t-shirt with dark blue pants, black shoes and messy black hair. His skin was the same color as the boy he was holding and a pair golden brown eyes with slit pupils behind a pair of glasses. Mercury blinked a couple times, not expecting the shorter man to appear, but Duke simply let off a small smile at the man.

"Ah, Uncle Bo. Good evening. I take it my order is finished?" Duke asked.

"It is. I have it in the back," Bo explained while pointing at the doors behind him with his thumb before pulling his son off the counter. "Cody, why don't you go and fetch Duke's weapon for him, please? I think it's for the best, since you looked like you were about to go wild on a potential customer for calling you short again."

"Yeah, yeah…" The young teen grumbled as he was set down before heading through the doors, causing Duke to look bemused and Mercury to look confused once more.

"This happens a lot, doesn't it…" Mercury asked, his question more of a statement than anything.

"Only when he's here minding the shop. Thankfully it's his last day, so I don't have to worry about him scaring away customers," Bo joked.

"So he's heading to Patch Island soon, Uncle?" Duke asked.

"He's leaving tonight, actually. He already made his goodbyes to Ruby and his new friends at Beacon, so all he needs to do is wait for his shift to be over and he'll be sent right to Signal," Bo explained with a grin.

"Wait…you're his uncle?" Mercury asked again in confusion, noticing that, while they were both Faunus, they looked nothing alike.

"It's just a title. I was in a team with his father when we were active and our families have been close for generations, so he and his sisters often call me uncle because of that." Bo explained.

"Huh. That's interesting," Mercury commented before turning to Duke. "I kinda like this guy. He looks like the kind of guy who likes to go with the flow. Know what I'm saying?"

"He's a man that typically follows his own rules and doesn't let anyone say otherwise. He used to be quite the troublemaker in his past if what my father said about him was true," The huntsman stated, an amused smirk on his face as he stared at the now sheepish repairman.

"Eh…hehe. Yeah. I was a bit of a wild one in my youth. Malcom and Kalt did their best to reign me in, but they weren't all that successful, especially when Etna came into the picture." Bo admitted before giving off a sigh in reminiscence, "Ahh…the pranks we used to pull on Ozpin and Glynda when we first came to Beacon. Summer often joined in on our fun, and no one was able to find us when we let off our large scale pranks. And don't get me started on the prank wars we had."

"Dad, I don't think we have much time for any storytelling today. You were about to close soon because you were supposed to meet up with a guest tonight, right?" Cody spoke up, holding a double edged sword with a blue blade and intricate runes etched on the center, a large blue orb in place of a guard with two protrusions on both sides of it, and a deep maroon colored hilt. "Here's Dracula, Duke. I know it looks a lot different compared to what it was used to, but you wanted a complete redesign of it, so Dad and I went wild with it. Hope it looks good."

"It looks great, Cody. Thank you," Duke said with a small bow.

"We should be the ones who should thank you, Duke. My boys have been interested in your sword for a long time and having a chance to repair it was something like a wish come true. My oldest even stated that he finally got the inspiration needed to finish his long-time project along with an enhancement with his current weapon thanks to this thing, so once again, thank you for letting us fix Dracula, Duke," Bo explained, a kind smile on his face as he complemented his former leader's son.

"Good to know, Uncle," Duke chuckled before he sheathed his new blade.

"That has to be one of the best looking Dust swords I've ever seen, man." Mercury complemented, impressed by the look of the powerful looking blade.

"It better. My dad, and I spent the better part of the weekend on it while my brother helped with the detail work all last night. I wouldn't be surprised if he passed out during lunch today." Cody smirked before taking another look at Mercury. "By the way…who are you? Are you one of Duke's training partners that ended up being beaten six ways to next year?"

"…What makes you say that?" The silver haired teen asked nervously, surprised that the kid guessed that he got his butt handed to him by the vampiric swordsman with little effort.

"It's how Duke makes friends, boy. He always goes all out in fights to prove that he is the strongest and is very interested in how people become strong. And by the way you carry yourself, you seem to be quite the accomplished huntsman student," Bo explained with a grin.

"…Yeah. He did beat me without any effort." Mercury grumbled, well aware that Duke was staring at him with mild amusement. "I was actually double-teaming him with my partner a while back and the two of us were utterly destroyed. The only one who stood a chance was our leader, and even then it was pretty close."

"Huh? Your leader stood toe to toe with Duke eh? He or she sounds like quite the formidable opponent if she was able to handle him," The youngest Faunus spoke up in surprise.

"Yes. She was quite the opponent. I'm actually looking forward to spar with her again. I always enjoy a good challenge and she one of the best I've come across in a long time…" Duke said, a small, somewhat bloodthirsty smirk forming in his mouth, unnerving Cody and even Mercury somewhat.

"And there is your lust for battle coming forth, Duke. How about you tone it down a bit before you make the two youngsters pass out. I haven't taught Cody about how to handle killing intent yet, so he's still not used to having your thirst coming out to play yet," Bo joked while patting his son on his head, instantly calming him down.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I just can't control myself sometimes. You know how it is," Duke apologized with another bow.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," The elder said while waving off the apology before noticing the time on the clock nearby. "Well, looks like it's high time for me to close up, and for Cody to head to Signal. It was nice meeting you, Duke, and it's good that you brought a friend over. Come again if you have the time."

"I'll try, Uncle. Thank you again for my sword," The swordsman said with a tiny smile before turning to the door, "Let's go, Mercury. We're done here."

"Right behind ya." Mercury nodded before turning to the father-son pair and waved at them, a mischievous smirk on his face. "It was nice meeting you two. Hope to see you two mini-forgers next time."

"I AM NOT A MINI-"

_*BAM!*_

"It's nice to see you, boy. Enjoy your day and if you fight against Duke again, try not to get killed. He has a habit of sending whoever he spars with to the hospital," Bo grinned, a fist up before his face and his son down on the floor, a large lump on his head and his eyes spinning from the blow his father gave him.

"Hehe, I'll try, old man. See ya," Mercury smirked before exiting the store and walked up to Duke, laughing as he did. "Man, that old man and his kid were riots! I can see why you like him so much. He seems pretty cool for an old guy."

"I do hold him in high regard, I won't lie. I even had a chance to become his apprentice at one point, but someone else managed to get to him before me," Duke admitted, a bitter smile on his face as he spoke.

"Oh…is that jealousy I hear?" The silver haired teen teased with a grin. "I'm surprised you let someone else be that guy's second instead of you. I would've thought you'd fight for his position or something."

"…Though I loath to admit it, the woman who became his apprentice was more qualified than I could ever hope to be," Duke muttered, "She became strong under his tutelage and her talent for learning almost everything he taught her was something I always envied. Even when we were on the same team, I held some resentment towards her, but that time has passed. The two of us have been an official team for five years now and I can honestly say that, other than you know who, she is one of the best partners I've ever had. Even after our team was disbanded due to the loss of two of our teammates, the two of us continue to do missions together from time to time. She isn't able to do much anymore due to her new job, but we're still in good graces…somewhat."

"Huh…I never knew that. Always thought that ACID was your main team." Mercury admitted.

"ACID is the mercenary team that my second partner created. Very few know about it and we almost never go on blacklisted missions together because of our other priorities," Duke explained before grabbing the hilt of his sword and gripped it tightly. "My old team will always be number one, though. It may be down to only two members, but it is a team that I will always be a part of. No matter what."

"Wow…that's deep, man," Mercury muttered, "So…what's the name of your old team, if you don't mind me asking."

Duke paused, causing Mercury to stop as well, and the old swordsman let off a sigh before looking up to the sky. Memories of his time at Atlas with his team flooded his head as he recalled the time he spent with his old team. After a few moments of silence, he spoke again, in a tone so soft that Mercury was surprised that it was coming from such a battle hungry warrior.

"We were known…as team RSBD (Rosebud). And we were, and always will be, the number one team to have graduated from General Ironwood's academy."

-Relámpagos Repairs, a few minutes later-

"Well, I'm all set and packed, Dad. Guess I better head out now." Cody said with a smile, a Beacon brand backpack by his side and now sporting a small ammunitions bag on his right hip a blue bandana with a lightning design on his head like a headband.

"Hold it son! I want to see if you got everything," Bo chuckled, ignoring his son's annoyed groan, before inspecting the teen's look. "Hmm…rocking the new look. The bandana and light vest was a good choice."

"Levy's got a good sense of taste, Dad." Cody admitted while adjusting his new bandana before looking down at his new boots. "And I like the boots she made too. I've never wear anything this high, before, but I'm not complaining.

"And the Dust weaved into the things to help you stick to walls and ceilings like your brother can makes them very efficient, as well." The elder stated before noticing something off about his son. "Hold on…looks like you're missing something…"

"If you're talking about Raging Thunder V2, I got it right here." The young teen said, turning around to point at his back, where his large bladed rifle collapsed into two halves was located. "I'm actually glad that I broke the first one. This new version of it works a lot better than the other one. And I actually remembered to add in the option for tesla rounds this time."

"That's nice, but that wasn't what I was talking about," Bo muttered, confusing his son, before a light bulb appeared on his head and pounded a fist in his palm. "Ah! That's it! Wait here!"

"Dad…?" Cody asked, confused as he saw his father rummaging through the back of the counter, before he got up with a necklace in his hand, the large image on it being one that the young teen recognized instantly.

"…That's the rose necklace that Rubes made for me after we finished our second year, a few weeks before her run-in with that Torchprick guy and got into Beacon early. I thought I lost that."

"You did. I ended up finding it a few days ago after I did a bit of cleaning here. Don't know why it was hiding in my weapons chest, but I'm not one to look at a gift horse in the mouth," Bo smiled while walking up to the boy and placed the necklace on him.

"…Thanks Dad. I really appreciate it," Cody said softly, truly happy that his father found something he thought he lost for good, when he felt a finger touching his forehead. "Dad…?"

"Just ensuring your safety, son. I did it to your brother this morning, now it's your turn." Bo said quietly before moving his finger to his son's chest, then to his left and right shoulder respectively, and finished with a quick kiss on the forehead. "Good luck and have fun at Signal, Cody. Go out there and kick some ass."

"…Got it, Dad. Love you. I'll tell Professor Qrow and Mr. Taiyang you said hi." The huntsman-in-training muttered happily, giving the man a big hug before heading out the door.

The elder Faunus wiped a tear from his eye as soon as the door closed. It was always hard seeing his sons off, but knowing that they will soon become protectors of the world like he once was always made him proud. He was worried about their safety, yes, but he knows how well they're trained, and it also helps that they are being watched over by some of the trustworthy men he knew.

"Well, at least I still have my cute little cherry princess," The father of three grinned, "Now…best I clean up a little before Tu-"

"Mow Mow!" "Mew…"

"Huh?" Bo grunted in confusion, hearing a pair of familiar meows in ways he hadn't heard before, and turned to the counter, where he saw a black cat and an orange cat sitting there, one looking frantic and the other looking depressed.

"Charcoal? Sorbet? What's wrong? Did something happen during your tasks?" Bo asked, becoming increasingly worried at his normally cheerful cats' negative demeanors.

As soon as he asked, the cats began meowing at him. While most people would not be able to understand them, Bo could, due to the close bonds he had with them since he was their trainer. As the cats went on explaining, the elder Faunus's expression grew darker and darker, his right eye having long since glowing a fierce sapphire shortly after the meowing began. As soon as they were done talking, the man only had one thing to say…and do.

*_BAM!*_

"DAMMIT!"

The two cats did not even so much as flinch when they heard their master roar in anger nor when he punched a hole on his store wall. Having been informed of a comrade's end does not tend to bode well at all to the one receiving the news, the pair knew this. They instead just silently allow their master to vent and they themselves gave their silent condolences to the adult feline that passed on. He took good care of them whenever they visited and knew where to scratch them.

"Damn it all to hell! I told him that hiding at my home until it was time to go would've been safer, but he had to go and make sure his business still went strong until the end! Tukson, you fool!" The man growled, breathing heavily while his arm was elbow deep in the wall, before taking a deep sigh and pulled it out, "Then again, we weren't expecting someone to get to him so soon. He only had a few more days… Damn Tuckson. You better have gone out fighting, you clawed bastard…"

"Mow…" The orange cat mewed softly, catching Bo's attention, and poked the side of its blue collar with its tail. A few seconds later, his pocket began to beep. Realizing what it was, he reached into his pants and pulled out a large blue Scroll and opened it.

"So you managed to take a picture of the scene, eh Sorbet? Glad to see you have your priorities straight. Thanks," Bo muttered, giving his cat a short nod, before focusing on the image that was sent to him.

His eyes hardened as he saw the beaten image of his friend. Having been a Huntsman for a long time, he has seen his fair share of fallen allies. This was no different. Adopting the professional monster slayer persona within him, he stared at the image with calculating eyes, trying to determine what the weapon that ended the bookstore owner's life was.

"Hmm… The way his face is damaged indicates a powerful close range firearm… Has to be a shotgun of some sort. Not only that, the indents on the face and the way his nose is flatten…he had to have been kicked as well. This means that whoever did this to him either kicked him away before blasting his face off…or done both at the same time."

Letting off a growl of frustration, the Faunus took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance, "Great…I know what kind of weapon was used, but it's generic enough that it'll be hard to get a suspect on the crime. Even that Mercury kid has a pair. _Mierda_…I need help with this."

*_tap tap*_

"Oh for… What is it now?" Bo mumbled, turning to where the sound of tapping glass was coming from, and his eyes went wide when he saw a small black bird with a tube on its back pecking on its window. There was only one person he knew that sent messages like that, and that made him let off a sigh of relief.

"Finally, he got the message. I was wondering if was just going to blow this off, but I'm glad he's taking this seriously." Bo said as he walked up the door and opened it, allowing the bird to fly in and land on his shoulder.

Giving the bird a quick pat on the head, the retired Huntsman opened the tube on its back and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper. He then began reading it, with the bird turning to look at it as well and the two cats now on this other shoulder reading as well. After a short while he began chuckling, amused by what was written on the paper, before rolling it up and pocketed it.

"Well…at least he's able to help out. Having both ground and air scouts will definitely be more beneficial than just having my cats survey the city…no offence you two," Bo stated, turning to the two cats beside him and apologized sheepishly.

"Meow ma-mow," The two said while waving their paws at him, telling them that it wasn't a problem.

"Thanks," He said with a smile before turning to the bird. "Ok, Paco. I got the message. Go back to your perverted master and tell him that I can't wait to meet up with him again."

With a nod, the black bird flew out of the door and into the sky, crowing as it did. Bo let off a soft chuckle once more before turning to his orange cat and told it to inform his wife and daughter that their guest won't be able to make it, and to tell them that he left to Vacuo early if they ask why. With a satisfied nod to himself and a silent prayer to his gone informant, the repairman headed to his counter, where he left his Scroll at, and was about to switch off the lights when it went off again. Curious as to who sent the message, he opened the device and checked to see who it was from.

"Huh? Qrow sent me a message? I wonder what this is about…" Bo muttered, wondering what his old fellow man of espionage was sending him. He pressed the button and from the message came only a few cryptic words that, if anyone else were to read it, would be thoroughly confused by what it meant.

'Tin Man comes with work, aided by the Storm's Apprentice'

"Tin Man with work? Must be Ironwood bringing his army like Ozpin guessed. Heh, sucks to be him," Bo smirked, knowing that the headmaster won't be happy about seeing so many foreign soldiers coming during a time of peace. He then looked at the second half of the message, a confused expression on his face for a while before a look of understanding formed on his face and began laughing loudly.

"Hahahaho, man! I forgot she got the job! Great Lord above, it's been a long time since I've seen her. She didn't show up at the gathering according to Leti, and now I know why!" Bo exclaimed cheerfully, happy with the apparently good news he just received, before taking a deep breath to calm down and turned to the cat that was still on his shoulder, "Charcoal, make a memo for me to get a gift for that dusty old crow later for giving me the best news I've had all day."

"Mai!" The cat saluted before jumping off the man to do just that.

"Hehe. Wow, it's been a while since I've seen her. Not since the funeral last year, if I remember right." Bo mumbled softly, shaking his head in amusement for what was about to happen, before turning to a certain picture on his counter.

Said picture had the image of four teens in it, all with white graduation caps and gowns and sporting happy looks on their faces. The first was obviously the smallest of the group, having short, dark brown hair and her eyes closed with a wide grin on her face with a peace sign in one hand and a large book on the other. The second was a bored looking white haired man with green eyes, a hand up in the thumbs up position, his graduation cap in the other hand, and a pair of wolf ears on his head. Another was a girl with long, ocean colored hair with soft sea blue eyes, waving her hand at the camera with a wide open smile on her face. The last was a familiar looking black haired man with slit red eyes and pointed ears, his arms crossed and a confident smirk on his face. Seeing the picture of the four of them brought more tears in the elder's eyes and he quickly wiped them off before focusing on the grinning dark brunette.

"It really has been while since we've seen her. I can't wait for her to arrive. There's going to be a lot of people I know that will be happy to reunite with her, especially a certain combat medic I know," Bo mumbled, grabbing the picture and held it gently for a good while before placing it back.

With nothing else to say, the man turned off the lights and locked the door to the back room. Giving himself a satisfied nod and allowing his cat to join him on the shoulder, the former huntsman walked out the door to his store and closed it. Just before he was about lock it, he paused. He then turned around and his eyes widened in shock when he saw a small, dark brown cat with stripes around its body and a small disk in its mouth. Knowing who the cat belong to, he kneeled down and pet it, with Charcoal giving it a greeting, before mumbling softly to it.

"So she sent you early, eh? I taught her well…" Bo smiled before he gently removed the disk from its mouth. Noticing a small button on it, he pressed it and was pleased to hear a confident, cocky even, female voice from it.

/ _What's up, Teach?! Just wanted to let you know that I'll be in town tomorrow with my boss and he even said he wanted to talk to you after he's done with The Wizard of Beacon. You know who that is. I'm well aware that Mr. Qrow probably already sent you a message about our return, so think of this as a confirmation or something, I don't care. I'm planning on spending my stay in Vale mostly at the school, but I'll pop in to say hi every now and again. Also, don't tell Lala that I'm coming. I want her and her friends to be surprised to see me, so don't ruin my fun, old man! __Hasta pronto__, and tell Duke that I want to see him next time you run into him. I know he's there. Love, your badass apprentice: The Violet Mage of RSBD. Or The Dust Witch of Atlas, if you prefer. I ain't picky. /_

"HAHAHAHA! Oh man! Sounds like she's still as cocky as ever! So glad that some things never change!" Bo guffawed loudly in amusement. Shaking his head, the man kneeled down to the dark brown cat, gave it another pet, and watched as it nodded to him and ran off. With a sigh and a small smile, the man looked up into the sky, where he knows the cat's owner was in, and spoke softly towards it.

"_…Bienvenido a casa, mi aprendiz…mi sobrina_."

Author's note:

I can honestly say that I enjoyed writing this thing. I'm also surprised by how quickly I finished this. It only took me a few days to get this done and a bit more to make all the edits I needed to make. Now, I hope you guys like my Christmas present for you all. It took me a while to get it to how I like it, especially the food fight scene and all the subtle and not so subtle jokes and references, but hey, I think I did decent. Now, in case you haven't noticed, a couple of my characters had a bit of design changes to them, Duke and Cody to be specific. Duke was originally supposed to look more like a long haired Sebastian from Black Butler, but I decided to change it to more of what his namesake's clothes wear; Duke from Tales of Vesperia. I even changed his sword to make it look like the False Dein Nomos in that game instead of the true version like that Duke and Yuri, to a short while, wielded. I also changed up Cody's attire a bit, and gave him the vest and long boots, along with the bandana, bag and new version of Raging Thunder. He is now, appearance wise, looking more like a black haired version of Dickson from Xenoblade Chronicles, without the open jacket to show off his chest. He also has his own version of the rifle sabre that Dickson used in the game, and I plan to make that version of Cody be is main look from here on out.

Now, pardon me for saying this crap again, but I still can't believe that so many people like my first work so much. I mean, seriously, I now have over 100 favorites to BLAD of RWBY and JNPR now! I never expected it to have so many people love it! I don't know where it's because of my writing preferences, the fact that I don't deviate too much from the story while still trying to keep it somewhat original and entertaining, or some other reason, but you guys like it, so I won't complain! Writing The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR was a fun challenge for me, and I know that writing Scattered Symphony will be an even greater challenge, since there's not many big time skips for me to exploit, but I will take it head on and do my best to get this story to have at least half as many favorites as my last story did. Expect quite a few changes in this story due to my changes, primarily in the Ball scene and, of course, the commonly agreed lackluster final episode of the canon RWBY. I will agree to the general view that, while good, the last episode felt kind of…anticlimactic. But hey, that's what we fanfic writers are here for, to take what our favorite shows, games, movies or stories gave us and twist them to how we, and others would've preferred to see it.

This fic will definitely be longer, chapter wise at least, because I'm planning on doing this story a little differently than in my first work. I'm going to separate each sub-plot, along with the additional ones that I will add, into two or three chapter arcs, with this being the first part of what I like to call the Introductory Arc. I pretty much have the arcs planned out and, if I got the numbering right, this story will have a minimum of at least twenty chapters. That is not even counting the decision of doing an epilogue chapter like I did in my first work. I have the names for the arcs already planned out as well: The Introductory Arc, The Crossing Paths Arc, The Infiltration Arc, The Mysterious Sensei Arc, The Beacon Dance Arc, The First Mission Arc and, of course, the final one, The Invasion Arc. The Crossing Paths and Mysterious Sensei arcs are the only original arcs that I was able to fit in my rendition of Volume Two, since it happened in a much shorter time frame than in the first Volume, where I was able to fit in four original stories, five if you count the epilogue. You'll why I named those arcs the way I did when I reach their parts. Until then, though, thank you all so much for reading, have a safe and happy holidays, and see you all on Christmas!

Translations:

Mi Tarta!: My pie!

Lo siento…mis amigos. Hasta…la otra…vida…: I'm sorry...my friends. Until...the next...life...

Bienvenido a casa, mi aprendiz…mi sobrina: Welcome home, my apprentice...my niece.


	2. Enter the Newcomers

Merry Early Christmas, all! Black Fuego here with Chapter 2 of Scattered Symphony! I'm sure that many of you readers are wondering how I'd go through this chapter, since there are a few scenes here that will be going quite differently than in canon. I am quite looking forward to how you guys might react to them, especially with one change in particular regarding two certain canon characters. As always, I am thankful for all of you who have liked my story so far and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own the RWBY series nor any other series that may be referenced in this story. I have also been recently obsessed with Persona Q…and for good reason. It plays well, the story's good, the dungeons are awesome (with the third one scaring the hell out of me every now and again. Man that place is creepy) and the character interactions are hilarious! I can't stop laughing or smiling every time something happens within the group, and I'm not even finished with the Persona 3 side yet. I can't wait to start on the Persona 4 side. Also, the Persona Kaguya is a lifesaver. Thank you Marie for having such an awesome Persona in your arcana and getting lucky enough to have it moved to the Moon and onto Q. Lunar Blessings for the win.

The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR II: Scattered Symphony

Chapter 2: Enter the Newcomers

It was a bright and bustling day in Beacon Academy. School has just started, the last of the exchange students are arriving, and multiple guests and important figures are coming to the school to check it out. There was one guest in particular that was letting others know that he was around, and the way he did it brought many mixed feelings to those who saw it, especially two certain individuals.

"Ironwood certainly loves bringing his work wherever he travels…" Glynda grumbled as she stood beside Ozpin, the pair in the headmaster's office and looking out the window that watches over the school

"Well…running and academy and a military makes him a busy man." Ozpin admitted as he stared at the airships above and on his school before turning away. "But yes, those are a bit of an eyesore."

As he turned, the man heard the small hologram on his desk going off, indicating that he had a visitor. Knowing who it was, he tuned to the door to greet the man who was in charge of all the ships around the academy.

"Come in."

The door opened, and from it came a middle aged man with black hair and grey sideburns, a white overcoat and pants with a blue dress shirt and red tie underneath it. The man also had what appeared to be a strip of metal above his right eyebrow and only one white glove on his right hand, but it seemed like a well-known thing, as neither Ozpin nor Glynda commented on it. The moment the man came in, Ozpin placed his hands behinds his back and gave him a nod of greeting, for he was an important figure for many in their world.

"Ozpin!"

"General…"

"Please, drop the formalities. It's been too long!" General Ironwood chuckled as he and Ozpin walked towards the center of the room and shook hands before turning to the blonde spell caster, "And Glynda! It has certainly been too long since we last met."

"Oh James…" Glynda waved, feigning politeness at the tall man in front of her before turning to her boss with an annoyed expression. "I'll be outside."

"Well she certainly hasn't changed a bit…" Ironwood muttered as he watched the woman leave.

"You should've seen Etna when she came to visit a few months. Just as rambunctious now as she was back then…" Ozpin stated, taking mild pleasure in the military general's discomfort at the mention of the name, before turning towards his desk to pour his guest a drink. "So… What in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas? Headmasters don't typically travel with their students for the Vytal Festival."

"Well you know how much I love Vale this time of year," Ironwood stated as he accepted the cup Ozpin gave him before reaching into his coat to pull out a flask, which he poured into his drink. "Besides, with you hosting… I thought this might be a good opportunity for us to catch up."

"I think it's a little too early for us to meet up like this if you ask me, considering that the other person you wish to catch up with is not with us at the moment," Ozpin stated as he went to sit on his chair.

"I'm aware of that. I'd actually prefer if I do my conversations with you two separately. Makes things easier that way," Ironwood said calmly.

"Well I can certainly appreciate quality time between friends…" Ozpin agreed as he poured his own drink before turning to the white clad man in mild annoyance. "However, the small fleet outside my window has me somewhat concerned."

"Well…concern is what brought them here." Ironwood admitted, well aware of what his friend was talking about.

"I've also been told from some of our other friends, such as Kalt and Leti, that travel between the kingdoms has been increasingly difficult-"

"Oz… You and I both know why I brought those men." Ironwood spoke up, his tone much heavier than earlier.

"As does Bo. And he was concern that you might bring Master Regulus or Lady Amaterasu from the Zodiac Guard with you as well. Something that I actually see you doing, to be honest." The headmaster stated dryly as he took a drink before letting off an exasperated sigh. "We are in a time of peace. Shows of power like this…are just going to give off the wrong impression."

"But if what Qrow said is true-"

"If what Qrow said is true, then we will handle it tactfully. Bo is already doing his part and he informed me that Corax is going to assist him when he comes here." Ozpin interrupted, staring at his friend straight in the eye, before letting off another sigh, "It's the Vytal Festival. A time to celebrate unity and peace. So I suggest you not scare people by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the continent."

"…I'm just being cautious." Ironwood said firmly.

"As am I…" The headmaster affirmed, "Which is why we will continue to train the best Huntsman and Huntresses we can."

"Believe me. I am. You're already well acquainted with two of them thanks to our mutual friends…" Ironwood stated, confidence strong in his voice towards the end, before turning to leave the office. Just as he was about to leave, he paused in the middle of the room, and turned his head towards his friend, "But ask yourself this… Do you honestly believe your children can win a war?"

Ozpin said nothing for a moment, prompting Ironwood to head out the door. As he left, the silver haired headmaster gave his answer, knowing that the general wouldn't hear it.

"I hope they never have to."

_/Neither do I. I understand what my boss is saying, but preparing kids for war is a bit excessive. Let the brats have their childhood. It isn't something they'll have forever, after all./_

"Heh…exactly what I said to Glynda a few days ago. Great minds think alike…" The headmaster agreed, not at all surprised by the feminine voice that was echoing in his room, before focusing his attention to the source of the voice; the holographic monitor on his desk. "So did you manage to hear everything?"

_/Yup. Thanks for setting up the connection, Ozpin. Didn't know you'd be devious enough to deceive both your old friends to allow a newbie like me to listen in on everything./ _The feminine voice chirped.

"You may be a rookie in our line of work compared to us, but you are still a valuable asset nevertheless. Your opinion needs to be heard and respected just as much as ours," Ozpin explained before smirking, "Besides…your master isn't the only one who is skilled in espionage. I've done my fair share of underground work myself when I was more active."

_/I know…Teach told me all about it. He also told me something very interesting involving you and a set of triplets during a mission over at Mistral a long time ago and-/_

"Enough, please. I'm well aware of what you are talking about and I'd prefer if you don't remind me of that incident," Ozpin stated somewhat hurriedly before glaring at the monitor lightly, "You enjoy tormenting others too much sometimes. I shouldn't be surprised, though, considering who you have associated with for most of your life."

_/Eh, it's enjoyable. And it relieves stress! Main reason why I accepted my old headmaster's offer at the job. I am actually getting paid to mess with kids and beat them up! I can see why you like your job so much!/_

"Yes…this job does has its fair share of perks and quirks…" Ozpin admitted with an amused smile at the energetic voice, "So, are you still wandering around my school looking for the team you've been hoping to find?"

_/Uh huh! I've gotten lost every now and again, since this place is so big, but I'm sure to find Lala's team no sweat! Just give me some time and I'll find the kid./_ The voice stated happily.

"I suggest you try the library if you're looking for her. She's just as much a researcher as you are, so she'll often spend her time there." Ozpin suggested, getting a surprised gasp in the process.

_/Gah! Why didn't I think of that!? Libraries are like candy for my relatives! Especially if they are filled with books about our areas of expertise! Thanks a lot, Ozpin, and tell Bart that I said hi and that we should catch up sometime!/_

"Haha, I'll let Bartholomew know. Enjoy your stay at my school." Ozpin chuckled as the monitor began to flicker out of existence before letting off a sigh of exasperation.

"Feh… That woman. So very different in comparison to many of her blood relatives, especially her grandfather. How Coach managed to keep up with her along with his multitude of kids, grandkids and even great grandkids up until his passing is nothing short of amazing."

-Scattered Symphony-

The Beacon Academy library, home to many forms of information, from books to computers, has always been an important place for the students of Beacon. A nice and quiet place, many young future huntsmen and huntresses spend much of their time there, either simply studying for upcoming exams or hanging out with friends and teammates for some quiet time. The library also allows people do one more thing that most students could not do all that often, even in the confines of their dorms:

"Yang Xiao Long! Prepare your kingdom for battle!"

"Bring it on!"

Board Games.

'_And…there they go. I wish that they didn't have to play in the library. It's where we study and learn for crying out loud…_' Ren thought as he began trying to ignore the shouting of the two sisters.

It was a typical afternoon for the three teams, actually. Team RWBY would engage themselves in various types of games, team JNPR would either join in or read and, oddly enough, team BLAD would often be doing their own thing, more often than not being separate from one another. The gunblader had to suppress a chuckle as he turned a page from the book he was reading, quietly amused by how a bunch of mixmatched individuals such as themselves would get along as well as they do. It was one of life's mysteries, he guessed, and quite honestly, he wouldn't have it any other way.

"…You just activated my trap card!"

"EEK!"

'_Although I wish that they would stop being so loud here, sometimes. Even Nora isn't that noisy when we're in here,_' Ren mentally grumbled as he took a glance at the table team RWBY was sitting at.

The four girls were playing a game of Remnant, a fairly popular board game where four players control each of the four kingdoms and try to conquer all the other kingdoms to win. A pretty good game, in Ren's opinion, but not something he would play in a middle of a learning facility like where they were in now. Ruby and Yang were being their rambunctious selves as usual, while Blake appeared to be lost in thought, something that was getting quite common as of late, and Weiss looked completely lost, even from his position. While the heiress was indeed a skilled gamer, it was only limited to the two or three types of genres she typically plays and most of them were on the video variety. Unless they were older games such as chess, the Ice Queen of Beacon had no chance of winning.

"_*snore* Mmm…more syrup for my pancakes, please…_"

'_And then there's my team…_' Ren thought in amusement as he turned his head, where he could see his loving and bubbly girlfriend Nora snoozing away underneath the page he just read, with a certain black cat sleeping on her head as well. The little furball came earlier in the day and was content to just sleeping on Nora's head for most of the day, which she enjoyed immensely. Quietly chuckling to himself and expertly dodging the flying game pieces coming from the other table, he gazed further towards the table to check on the other occupants.

Pyrrha and Jaune were their usual selves in front of him, with the blonde leader reading one of his favorite X-Ray and Vav comics before it was stolen by his red haired girlfriend and replaced with a textbook. Not even a moment later, she began reading it herself with an excited expression on her face, and Ren had to will himself to not laugh at the silliness of them all. Behind the couple were Ash and Dia, the partners sitting in front of a book case with the powerhouse rocking his head to some music from his silver headphones while the archer appeared to be writing something if the paper in her hand was anything to go bye. She even had her tongue sticking out slightly and looking back and forth between her paper and her active Scroll beside her, which was a sign that she was in the middle of either writing or transcribing a song for her team. An odd talent she had, but Ren had long since given up on the mystery that was Diantha Adamas…and was silently patting himself on the back for not saying it right, lest he get a tongue lashing from the girl in question.

"Ok then…using Wind Dust will enhance both the sharpness of the blade and make the user lighter, which means he'll fly farther when hit. On the other hand, Earth Dust increases sturdiness and overall defenses of both the weapon and weapon holder, but slows down their movement speed. Better add that to the list…"

'_And of course the one place where it would make sense for the narcoleptic ninja to be asleep is where he is at his busiest._' Ren thought in amusement as he turned his head to the spot in front of Jaune, where he saw Baltazar writing on a piece of paper while mumbling to himself, with a few books to his left, his Scroll to his right, and a total of six different vials of Dust above the paper. It looked like the ninja was working on the same project that he was working on since the semester started, and, judging from the intensity in his normally relaxed eyes, it looked like whatever he's working on has taken his full attention. Even Levy, who was sitting beside both him and magenta eyed teen, had her eyes away from the multitude of medical texts that were stacked beside her to look at her cousin with a bemused expression. He was so focused that he didn't even flinch when a flying game piece flew out of team RWBY's table and bounced on his head before hitting Jaune on his breast plate.

"Well…looks like we won't be getting his attention for a while," Jaune muttered quietly, with Levy and Ren nodding in agreement, before the swordsman and medic turned their attention to the all-girls team while the gunblader returned to his book.

"Well, Weiss, your turn," Yang grinned, having successfully countered her now depressed sister's assault and now waiting for the heiress's move.

"I have… Absolutely no idea what's going on." Weiss admitted while staring at her cards in confusion.

"Heh, wow. Hard to believe that our resident gamer princess has a hard time playing a simple board game." Yang teased lightly.

"Well, I really haven't played these types of games growing up. I had virtual games on hand more often than not and the only board game I've played when I was young was chess, and you know how good I am in that game." Weiss explained.

"And yet you still can't beat Levy in a match. Guess that makes her the true Queen of Chess, eh?" Dia quipped from her spot, recalling that her medically inclined teammate was a very skilled chess player.

"This is Levy we're talking about. She can beat me with her eyes closed, you know that," The heiress smiled while looking at her childhood friend, who smiled back at her kindly.

"Look, it's easy! You're playing as Vacuo which means all Vacuo-based cards come with a bonus!" Yang explained as she grabbed her shoulder in a half hug.

"That sounds dumb…" Weiss muttered as she allowed her teammate to check her cards and assist her.

"…She's walking into a trap," Dia snickered as she realized what her fellow blonde was doing.

"See… You've got Sandstorm, Dessert Scavenge-" The brawler muttered while shuffling around the heiress cards before finding something interesting, "Oh! Oh! Resourceful Raider! See, now you can take Ruby's discarded airfleet-"

"Noooo…" The young leader cried.

"-And put it in your hand! And since Vacuo warriors have an endurance boost against natural hazards, you could use Sandstorms to disable my ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate my kingdom!" Yang said cheerfully, finishing her explanation to the still skeptical Weiss, before glaring fiercely back at her, "Just know that I will not forget this declaration of war."

"And that means…?" Weiss asked slowly.

"It means you're three turns away from conquering Remnant, _Querida_…" Baltazar muttered, not bothering to even look at the table behind him, causing Ren, Jaune, Pyrrha and Levy to look at him in surprise.

"He's riii-i-i-ight!" Ruby wailed.

"Huh…guess he's more aware than we thought." Levy muttered with a bit of a laugh.

"Either that or it was instinctual," Ren suggested dryly, not looking away from his book.

Weiss simply sat in her chair, quietly processing what she just heard, and took another look at her cards, before rising up from her seat with a tyrannical expression on her face.

"Yes! Fear the almighty power of my forces! Cower as they pillage your homes and weep when they take your children from your very arms-"

"Trap Card."

"Huh?"

"Called it," Dia snickered, well aware that the brawler set the heiress up, and watched as Yang rearranged the board to her favor.

"Your armies have been destroyed." Yang chirped.

"I hate this game of emotions we played!" Weiss whined, river of tears falling from her face as she sat down, when Ruby suddenly appeared in her lap and began hugging her.

"Stay strong, Weiss. We'll make it through this together…" Ruby cried, tears waterfalling off her face as well as she buried her face into the crook of her partner's neck.

"Shut up! Don't touch me!" The heiress shouted back, gripping her leader tightly as she continued to cry.

"And there goes the water works. So much for getting to listen to some good songs," Ash sighed in mild annoyance as he took off his headphones to stare at his leader, "Hey Balto. Your girl and your brother's girl are crying into each other's arms again. Wanna get them to quiet down?"

"…"

"…Dude?"

"He's gone, Ash. You can't get to him," Ren stated as he noticed the ninja was once again focusing on his work.

"Oh for crying out loud," Ash grumbled as he got up to his leader and went to grab his shoulder. "Hey, Balto. Can you stop working on that thing of yours and-"

*_BZZRT!*_

"GAH!"

*_Thud*_

_*hssss*_

"Heh…looks like Sparky's Dust imbued coat is working it's electrified magic," Yang smirked as she saw the toasted redhead on the ground, taking a brief look at the still busy forger, who wasn't even aware that he fried his teammate, before turning to her partner, who had a distracted look on her face. "Alright Blake, you're up!"

"Huh?" Blake mumbled, startled a little by being called out, before recomposing herself. "Oh! Umm… Sorry, what am I doing?"

"You're playing Vale, trying to conquer the kingdoms of Remnant!" Yang explained.

"Right…" Blake nodded with a weak smile.

"Hey! Can I-"

"OW! Jauney! Still hurt down here!"

"Woops! Sorry, Ash," Jaune said sheepishly, removing his foot from the still down flirt, before turning back to the girls. "So… Can I play?"

"Sorry, Jaune. We've already got four people and I already promised Dia that she'd takes the spot on whoever loses first." Ruby said apologetically.

"I will murder your people and take all your land as soon as I am on that table, Dragon Breath!" Dia shouted while pointing her finger at her buddy in blondness.

"Hah! I'd like to see you try, Flower Girl!" Yang taunted back.

"Besides, this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt you possess." Weiss spoke up in a smug tone.

"Says the girl…who attacked…her own naval fleet…two turns ago…" Ash mumbled.

"How did you know that?" Blake asked curiously, knowing that the fiend on the ground wouldn't normally pick up on something like that when he had his music on.

"She…complained…really loudly…when it happened… Wasn't…able…to listen…to…Caffeine…all that…well…" The pained flirt explain as he slowly got up, causing the heiress to pout at the correct statement.

"Bring it on, Ice Queen. I'll have you know that I've been told that I'm a natural, born leader!" Jaune boasted with his chest up high.

"By who? Your mother?" Weiss taunted.

"And Pyrrha!" The blonde swordsman confirmed shamelessly.

"Hello again!" Pyrrha waved.

"Even your boyfriend said that I'm a good leader," Jaune said smugly before turning to the ninja behind him. "Right, Baltazar?"

"…"

"Baltazar?"

"…"

"Well…I guess that's your answer, then," Weiss smirked, well aware that the ninja didn't hear a single word Jaune said and used it to her advantage.

"C'mon! Let me play your hand for a turn! Games like this are my forte, I can win for you!" Jaune begged.

"I am not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo!" Weiss argued.

"Ice Queen, just swallow your pride and let the dude play. He can't be worse than you, so you'd be in the clear," Ash grumbled as he popped his back and glared at his leader, who still wasn't paying attention to what was going on.

"No way! Vacuo will win under my reign and my rein alone!" Weiss stated stubbornly.

"Come on, Weiss. You trusted me with way more important stuff before! I mean, you told us all that Blake is secretly a Fau-"

"Fun-loving person whom we all admire and respect!" Pyrrha interrupted, having rushed over from her seat and covered her boyfriend's mouth with her hand before he accidentally revealed the secret.

"Nice save," Dia muttered in approval, unaware of Levy's confused expression.

"Really? I thought the secret was that Blake is a Fau-"

"…"

"How does he do that…?" Ash grumbled as he stared at his leader, who was covering the medic's mouth with his hand as well, while writing on his paper and talking to himself, before turning to Blake, alongside the others, and smiled sheepishly at her annoyed expression.

"Right… That…" Jaune said embarrassingly while sharing a glance with Levy, who looked mildly ashamed of herself, before bowing to them. "Ladies…enjoy your battle!"

"'Sup, losers!" Sun greeted as he walked up to the others, standing behind Blake, and gave his friends the peace sign.

"Yo, Abs. Showing off your goods, I see," Ash smirked with his arms crossed as he gestured to the monkey teen's six pack.

"You know it, my man," Sun grinned before turning to the girls on the table near him. "Ruby, Yang, Blake, Ice Queen…"

"Ash, I blame you for making everyone call me that!" Weiss cried out while glaring at the unapologetic redhead behind her.

"You make it too easy, Queenie!" Dia spoke up with a mischievous grin.

"I never got a chance to formally introduce you my old friend." Sun continued while gesturing to Neptune, who was standing right next to him.

"Uh… Aren't libraries for reading?" Neptune asked in confusion.

"THANK YOU!" Ren shouted with his hands in the air.

"*_snort_* PANCAKES!" Nora cried out, now fully awake due to her boyfriend's yelling.

"MEEP!" Charcoal mewed shortly after, a little startled by the sudden awakening of its bed, before calming down.

"Shut up. Don't be a nerd." Sun grumbled.

"Ge-ge-ge-ge! Intellectual. Ok. Thank you." Neptune argued before turning back to the others, "I'm Neptune."

"So, Neptune, where are you from?" Weiss asked, curious about the friend of the monkey tailed rapscallion she still wasn't sure of.

"Haven…" Neptune answered, looking at the heiress coolly and walked up to her, "…And I don't believe I caught your name…Snow Angel."

'_Uh oh…_' Came the thought to most of the people in the vicinity, even Sun.

"Crap…! I knew I forgot something!" The Monkey Faunus growled to himself, wilting a little at the annoyed expressions he was getting from some of his new friends.

"Um… I'm Weiss." Weiss responded a little unsurely.

"Pleasure to meet you," Neptune said smoothly.

"Sun! Stop him!" Jaune hissed, startling Sun and prompting him to go to his best friend.

"Ah, uh, Neptune! Before you try and work your magic…there's something you need to know about Weiss," The staff expert spoke up nervously.

"What? That she looks like a maiden sent from the sky to grace us with her beauty? Because I already know about that," Neptune grinned jokingly, purposely overdoing it for laughs, which caused a lot of his new friends to pale at his statement and for Weiss to connect the dots while blushing a bit.

"Oh…well…Neptune, I'm flattered that you think that way about me, really, but I think that you need to know that…I'm taken… Sorry," Weiss admitted, catching Neptune by surprise, and making Sun and some of the others to sigh in relief.

"Really? I guess I should've known. After all, no one as beautiful as you deserves to remain single," Neptune said with a mild tone of disappointment before perking up. "So…who's the lucky man that had manage to win you over?"

"Hey, Weiss? May I borrow you for a moment, please? I need your help with something." Baltazar spoke up, startling a lot of his friends by his sudden actions and appearance to Weiss's side, and showed the heiress the paper he was working on for the past hour.

"Ask and you shall receive, dude," Ash spoke up as he slung his arm around his fellow ladies' man. "That's who the Ice Queen is going out with, my leader Balto. Pretty nice guy when you get to know him, but he has his quirks here and there, including one that you should be aware of…"

"And…what quirk is that?" The blue haired teen asked curiously.

"Balty's overprotective as heck when it comes to his friends! Especially Weissy! He was even about to lash out on Ashy's mom when they first met because she had Weissy in her arms and was crushing her to death before she let go and tried to crush him with affection! Right, Kitty?" Nora chirped as she pet the cat on her head, recalling what Levy told her and the others about what had happened that caused the incident that made both Ash and Baltazar fight for the position of leader many months ago.

"Meow…" Charcoal sighed in agreement, enjoying the petting it was getting.

"Ah… the overprotective type, eh? I understand," Neptune smirked, causing the others to look at him strangely.

"Uh…hey, Neptune? What are you thinking about?" Sun asked nervously.

"You'll see." Neptune assured before focusing his attention back to the white and blue couple.

"Ah! I didn't know that Fire Dust can be utilized like that! Thanks _Querida_, you're the best," Baltazar said kindly with a small smile on his face.

"Think nothing of it, Dear. Happy to help." Weiss smiled and gave the ninja a peck on the lips before gesturing to Neptune. "Baltazar, I'm sure you didn't know that he came, but Sun showed up with an old friend of his and introduced himself to us. How about you say hi, as well?"

"Sure thing," Baltazar nodded before turning to Neptune and stuck his hand out to him, "Yo, mate. _Me llamo Baltazar Azul_. And you are?"

"I'm Neptune Vasilias. It's nice to meet you." Neptune greeted while shaking the shorter teen's hand. "Hey, if you don't mind me saying, you have yourself one good looking girlfriend. I bet you must feel like the luckiest man in the world for having someone like her in your life."

"More than you can imagine, mate," Baltazar said seriously, scaring most of his friends as he began staring at Neptune in the eyes, his normal brown eyes flashing blue briefly.

"That's right, Sparky, and he really likes Weiss, too, just like you! He was flirting with her, calling her beautiful and everything! I honestly think it would've worked on her too, if she wasn't with you." Yang grinned, causing Weiss to blush a little and making the area grow cold almost instantly.

'_Yang, what have you done?!_' The majority of the group thought in fear. The only ones who were not freaking out were, Levy, Weiss, and, oddly enough, Ren and Nora.

"Really? I see…" Baltazar said calmly, his eyes being hidden now by the glare of the light reflecting off his glasses, before turning back to Neptune, who was simply grinning back at him with his arms crossed and not even trying to deny the accusation.

The place remained quiet, almost no one not daring to take a breath, as they fearfully wait for whatever action the lightning ninja might take. Due to his general laidback and nonchalant demeanor, it was typically pretty hard to determine what Baltazar was thinking most of the time. This becomes especially so when he adopts a more stoic expression, like he is currently doing. As such, it was hard to guess what he was going to do, and Ruby, Blake, Pyrrha, Jaune, Ash, Dia and Sun were all very afraid of what might happen. Yang, Levy, Weiss, Nora and Ren were silent and staring at Baltazar as well, but were not as worried as the others. Neptune, however, continued to remain calm and simply stared back at the shorter teen with a small smile. It was a few more agonizing seconds, with many looking at each other wondering what was going to happen, before Baltazar did something that almost no one was expecting.

He smiled and laughed.

"Hehehe, well, good to know that there's someone out there that has good taste in women." Baltazar said kindly and gave Neptune a thumbs up.

"Back at ya, man. And from what I see, you're treating her right! Keep up the good work, man. I can tell she's special, so do your best to take care of her," Neptune smirked.

"Thanks, mate. And don't worry, I'll take care of her with my life. Count on it." Baltazar said with a firm nod before holding his fist up to the tall teen, causing him to smirk and send his fist forwards to meet with his, resulting in a friendly fist bump.

"EH?!" The surprised group shouted in alarm, while Yang and Nora began laughing began laughing at their expressions. Ren and Levy simply shook their heads in amusement while Weiss placed a hand on her ninja's arm and looked up at him knowingly.

"You drew out the silent, contemplating act just to mess with everyone, didn't you?"

"Hey, gotta have my fun too, you know. And I never get tired of messing with people's heads. It's too enjoyable," The lightning ninja shrugged with a small grin.

"…I am so confused right now," Ruby muttered while holding her head.

"It's like Nora said! Sparky is very overprotective! That doesn't mean he gets jealous easy. In fact, Sparky hardly ever gets jealous when guys try to flirt with Weiss because of how much he trusts her and her ability to scare off those who are persistent." Yang explained cheerfully.

"Ren's like that too! He doesn't worry about guys trying to hit on me because all I have to do is bring out Magnhild and break their legs!" Nora chirped, causing everyone to look at her strangely.

"If anything, it's Weiss who's the jealous type in their relationship. She can be quite possessive of him from time to time," Ren spoke up.

"What? I'm not the jealous type! What makes you say that!?" The heiress asked heatedly.

"Caldera?" Levy giggled, causing her childhood friend's eye to twitch at the reminder of the bratty woman.

"Ugh…you had to remind me of that good for nothing skank. No offense, Ash." Weiss mumbled, glancing at the still slightly smoking redhead.

"None taken. My cousin's a bitch. No question there," Ash dismissed, prompting his leader to turn to him and finally notice the burnt state of his teammate.

"Ash…? What happened to you? You look like you got struck by lightning or something…" Baltazar pointed out, only to receive an annoyed glare in response. "What?"

"So…Baltazar. You don't get jealous often, huh? I would've thought you'd threaten to gut Neptune and use his intestines as cat food for your dad's TGHAs for trying to make a move on Weiss…" Sun admitted curiously, causing Neptune to blink a couple times before staring at the Tiger Faunus oddly.

"Tactic 3-1-20? Nah, I wouldn't do that. Neptune looks like a nice guy, and I don't need Charcoal to tell that he's a good person. Kinda reminds me of a gentlemanly Ash if you ask me," Baltazar explained, gesturing to the amused, if slightly frightened, bluenette before pointing at his head. "Besides, he has blue hair and makes it look good. Seriously, how many people do you know that can rock blue hair?"

"…He does have a point." Jaune mumbled in reluctant agreement.

"…I have the oddest friends ever," Blake muttered quietly.

"Of all time." Yang affirmed with a grin, getting multiple nods of agreement from said odd friends.

"Hehe, no argument here," Sun chuckled before looking down to Blake and what was on the table. "Huh? Remnant the Game. I never took you as the board-game-playing type."

"Right…" Blake muttered before setting her cards down and got up, "Well, I think I'm done playing, actually. I'll see you guys later."

With that, the young kunoichi left the library, not looking back at her friends as she walked. Her actions confused her friends, causing them to look at each oddly.

"Women…" Nora shrugged.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Dia snorted, causing everyone to stare at them in disbelief, even the cat.

-Scattered Symphony-

Velvet Scarlatina, one of the many upperclassmen in Beacon, was having a nice time walking around the courtyard of the school. Her team wasn't scheduled for a mission for a while, so she decided to spend her free time to take a walk and meet the newcomers. It was a pleasant change of pace from her normally busy schedule, and she was planning on taking advantage of it.

"Dammit! Where the hell is the freaking library! I've been searching for it for hours!"

"Huh?" Velvet muttered in confusion, and turned to the source of the voice to see a woman easily a few years older than her. She had short, dark brown, nearly black hair with red goggles on her head, expressive green eyes, a long red-violet vest with many trinkets such as a small magnifying glass and a small notebook over a long sleeved baggy black shirt, red, fingerless gloves, a pair of violet colored striped knee length socks and black sandals. She had her back facing the confused Rabbit Faunus, allowing her to see an image of an open book with flames coming out of it on her back, a book strapped to the back of her waist and a whip rolled up beside it. Although she had no idea who the woman was, Velvet was able to tell one thing about her.

"She's a huntress, and a strong one at that. Her power's on par with Professor Goodwitch, and she's only a few years older than me. Wow…" The bunny girl muttered, a little on edge to see such a powerful looking person before her.

"Grr… For the love of Boss's pile of scrap bots, this is getting me nowhere! I can't find it, Horchata can't find it! And now that Oz severed our connection, I can't get him to help me anymore! And there's no way I'm going to Teach for this! He'll just make fun of me and my lack of direction again! Dammit, Buelo, why, of all the things I had to inherent form you, was freaking that!? I'd be happier with gardening that this!" The woman shouted to the air with a fist towards it, causing Velvet to sweatdrop at her actions before nervously approaching her.

"Uh…excuse me? May I help you?" The upperclassman asked, catching the huntress's attention.

"At last, some help! Everyone's been avoiding me like a crazy person ever since I got here and no one's willing to even make a glance at me because they think I'm nuts!" The woman shouted before rushing over to Velvet and grabbed her shoulders, "Please! You have to tell me where the library is! I was told that the person that I want to meet is there right now and I want to meet her before she leaves! Tell me where it is, now!"

Velvet went wide eyed as soon as the woman grabbed her. She didn't notice earlier, but she was able to see five different bands on her body and she was able to sense that they were used more often than the whip on her back: A choker, a pair of bracelets, and a pair of anklets. All of them Dust powered and emanating strong energy. If the student had to guess, then the woman was just like her.

"You're a mage." Velvet muttered quietly in surprise.

"Huh? Of course I am! I'm actually surprised you didn't recognize me sooner! I'm quite famous after all!" The woman grinned before stepping back and pointed to herself. "I am one of the best huntresses to have come out of the greatest hunter academy in all of Atlas, a powerful mage through and through, and one of the greatest Dust researchers ever! I am Ironwood's new assistant director, the Schnee Dust Company's regular Dust consultant, and an all-around badass if I do say so myself! People call me The Dust Witch or the Violet Mage, but you can call me Rita!"

"Rita…?" Velvet repeated, a little confused by the name.

"It's short for my full name, but I prefer to be called Rita than anything. Heck, I got a load of relatives that go with shorter renditions of their names. Except Buelo. His was short enough that folks didn't really need to do it for him." Rita explained, her eyes now possessing a faraway look, as if recalling a good memory.

"Buelo…?" Velvet muttered, mostly to herself, as she began realizing something. '_That name…why does it sound so familiar…?_'

"It means Gramps in my dad's native language. He and his family are from a certain part of Vacuo where they speak that language a lot, so he made it a point to me, my four younger sisters and my older brother the language. My Teach's family from his mother's side originate from there as well, so I learned the language pretty easily." Rita stated with her arms crossed.

"I see…" Velvet said, nodding in understanding, before smiling at the huntress, "In any case, if you're looking for the library, it's in the main building. Just keep walking and you'll be able to find it no problem."

"The main building!? Why didn't I think of that!? It's so freakin obvious!" The huntress exclaimed loudly, her hands into the air and startling Velvet, before reaching to one of the pockets in her vest and pulled out a red-violet Scroll and activated it. "Horchata! You're closest to the main building! I need you to look for the library there and find Lala and her friends! Notify me as soon as you find them! I'm going to find a place to rest and wait for your response! My feet are sore and I am not going to walk around this freaking place anymore! You have your orders, so follow them to the word, understood!?"

_/Mai!/_

'_What the…? Did I hear a meow from the Scroll?_' Velvet thought in surprise.

"Ok, now that that's done, I better head over my place and wait. Hope they take their time, though. I could use a little rest." Rita sighed before turning to Velvet with a smile. "Hey rabbit girl. Thanks a lot for helping me out. I think I should give you something in return. Give me a second and I'll fish something out."

"Huh? Oh, no! It's fine! You don't have to give me anything!" Velvet said as she brought her arms up to deny the gift.

"Nonsense! All good deeds deserve a reward! It's what Buelo taught us and it is something that we will live by to this day!" Rita exclaimed once more before bringing out a small vial of dark purple powder and handed it to Velvet.

"…What's this?" She asked curiously.

"A special type of Dust I developed alongside the Schnee Dust Company that I named Void Dust. Takes the suction and absorption properties of certain types of Dust like wind and fire and amplifies them, allowing it to drain the energy of other types of Dust and store it in the weapon it is in. The Dust itself is only capable of absorption, but it does have an odd side effect of enhancing one's stealth if they have an affinity toward it. You can either use it for yourself or give it to someone you know, it's yours to do however you want." Rita explained with a smirk before forcing the vial into Velvet's hand.

"Oh…um…thank you, Ms. Rita. I'm happy to accept this." Velvet said with a bow.

"Think nothing of it! Now, if you don't mind, I got a coliseum to look for again!" The huntress announced before clapping her hands.

As soon as she did, her anklets began to glow gold and a yellow glyph suddenly appeared below her feet before disappearing. Not a moment after that, the woman jumped, but instead of falling back down, she remained floating in the air. Velvet, along with other spectators, went wide eyed at the sight of the now floating girl, and said floater simply grinned and gave the stunned bunny girl a peace sign before taking off in a random direction. As she left, Velvet saw the book on her back, flapping about, and began noticing something underneath the book that caused her to gasp at what she saw: an emblem.

It was an image that she had seen a few times in her first year. The symbol of one of Beacon's old instructors that had long since retired and had passed away a few years ago. A symbol that was still in some texts in the library she found, most of them regarding to close combat. A symbol that she had seen much more recently as of late, but not on any site or text, but on someone else, a certain first year student to be exact.

The image? A crescent moon with three swirls beside it.

The same emblem that Levy has.

-Scattered Symphony-

It was evening now, a good few hours since Blake left her friends, and the young Faunus could be seen sitting on her bed and hugging her knees, thoughts of the raid she and Sun thwarted with a little assistance from Charcoal echoing in her mind,

_"Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scum!?"_

_"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together."_

As those thoughts went on in her head, she began recalling her meeting with Ozpin shortly after her ordeal, which also included a guest that she wasn't expecting, and, from what she remembered, neither did her headmaster.

_-Flashback, Beacon Academy, a few weeks ago-_

"_Well…this has certainly been an eventful evening. I'm sure that after a night of thwarting attempted robbery you probably just want to go home and take a nap, but… I was hoping that maybe we could have a chance to talk." Ozpin said calmly as he set his cup and cane down and, he and Blake sitting in a room by themselves, which housed only a table, a couple chairs, and a ceiling light._

_"Of course," Blake responded._

_"Wonderful!" Ozpin smiled as he nodded before continuing, "As you know, in order to enroll at my academy, students must first pass a rigorous entrance exam. Most applicants spend years of preparation training at one of the many combat schools around the world… You are one of the few who did not. And you passed the exam with flying colors."_

_"I was raised outside the kingdoms. If you can't fight, you can't survive." Blake explained._

_"Well…one of your friends was also raised outside the kingdoms, and ended up going to a combat school in on of Vale's territorial islands, as you know." Ozpin pointed out before shaking his head, "But I digress. You have most certainly survived, Blake. I admire your drive and I am proud to run a school that accepts individuals from all walks of life. Rich. Poor. Human…"_

_A sip._

_"…Faunus."_

_Blake began to glare at Ozpin, not happy that he was openly pointing out her race, before the headmaster continued on. _

_"Why do you wear that bow, Blake? Why hide who you are? Your fellow Feline Faunus friend has multiple reasons, and multiple ways, to hide his heritage, yet he does not. Why do you?" He asked._

_"You may be willing to accept the Faunus, Professor Ozpin, but your species is not…" Blake stated, "Besides, you know how dismissive my friend is about these things. He just…doesn't care…and hasn't cared for a long time, according to my partner."_

_"True…but we are continuing to take strides to lessen the divide. Forjador is a good example of what we are hoping to achieve, as you have seen." Ozpin pressed._

_"With all due respect, you need to start taking some larger strides. You know as well as I do that even Forjador is not safe from prejudice because of the city's accepting nature. It's why very few are aware that Azure Armory Inc., one of Vale's most well know weapon forgers, is run by a family of Tiger Faunus. Until then, I'd rather avoid any unnecessary attention. I want people to see me as who I am. Not what I am." The Cat Faunus explained bitterly._

_"And what are you?" Ozpin questioned, catching his student off guard._

_"I…don't understand what you're asking," Blake admitted._

_"How did you know that the White Fang would be at the shipyard tonight?" The headmaster finally asked._

_"I didn't… I just happened to be at the right place at the right time." Blake assured._

_"You wouldn't have been the first…but what happened tonight was not an isolated incident." Ozpin pressed, "I may be your headmaster, but I am also a Huntsman. And it is my sworn duty to protect the world from the forces that conspire against it. Blake…Are you sure there is nothing else you would like to tell me?"_

_"I'm sure…" Blake said firmly._

_"Oz, take it easy on the girl. You're stressing her out, and that is the last thing that she needs after all that has happened to her."_

_Jumping at the voice, Blake turned around and gasped at what she saw; A man who looked a couple inches shorter than her in a blue cloak with a hood, black hair, and, to her great surprise, a Grimm Mask. The man's mask, however, was different than the ones she was used to. All the ones she had seen were white with red details, mimicking the markings of the Grimm._

_This one had a blue mask with black details, and if she remembered the words of her former coworkers, there was only one member of the White Fang who donned that mask, even before the new leader took over._

_"Rayo? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out…'reacquainting' with your former allies?" Ozpin asked in mild surprise._

_"I was, but I forgot my lucky torture knife in your office from the last time I visited you and went to get it back. Then I noticed you having a nice conversation with one of your students, so I figured I'd drop by and say hi," The man stated as he placed a gentle hand on Blake's shoulder, causing her to flinch._

_"I see. I was just finishing up actually. If you want to talk, then you're welcome to join," The headmaster suggested._

_"Nah. I'm just here for only a short while, Ozpin. We'll talk again soon, though. After my work is done," The masked man assured._

_"Ok then, I'll accept that," The headmaster nodded before turning to her stunned student and got up, "Thank you for your time, Ms. Belladonna. If you ever want to talk to me, or to someone else who can help, please don't hesitate to ask."_

_With that, the headmaster left the room, leaving Blake alone with another former associate of the White Fang. She wasn't sure what to do or say to the man beside her, and was about to excuse herself, when the man let off an annoyed sigh._

_"Heh…I told him a thousand times to not call me Rayo anymore. I am no longer amongst the members of the White Fang, so that name no longer exists," He grumbled as he took off his mask and turned to Blake, who was surprised to see that his pupils were not only just slit, but were different colored as well; one golden brown and the other a deep sapphire blue, and it was at that moment that she recalled who this man was._

_"…Mr. Bo?"_

_"Why do you sound so surprised? I gave my son permission to tell you about me, did I not?" Bo asked in a joking tone, "Besides, it's not often that I meet someone as young as you and have been with the White Fang for so long to be here and away from them. You must've hated the way it turned for the worse, eh?" _

_"You know about my…? Did Cody tell you?" Blake asked nervously._

_"Child, I've known who you are for a long while. I was the one who inspired your old mentor with his weapon, after all, and the two of you were always with one another according to the reports I've read. It wasn't hard to put two and two together," Bo stated, surprising his fellow Faunus once more, before placing his hand on her shoulder again, "Listen, Blake, I can understand what you're going through, at least a little. I've left the White Fang for the same reasons you've did, and I even resorted to move to Vale to ensure that my wife and kids are safe from them. I also tried to make sure that no one but a select knew of my time with them, but of course, kids like yourself can't help but be nosey sometimes."_

_"…You're talking about when Weiss found out, aren't you," Blake muttered._

_"Indeed. I've lost a lot of trust from her when she found out, and if I hadn't intervened, she would've revealed it to many others. I'm still not sure if I've ever fully gained her trust back. The White Fang has scarred her deeply, and she's known me for a long time. To find out that I was a part of the organization that tormented her family and kidnapped her, was devastating on her part." Bo admitted sadly._

_"But you were the one who rescued her. She knows this and understood what you had to do. She still trusts you, Mr. Bo. I'm sure of it," Blake said adamantly. _

_"Just as she trusts you, Blake, even after finding out your secrets," The elder stated, surprising the girl once more. "Listen, if you wish for people to understand you for who you are, you need to accept what you are, and not be afraid to show it to others. I'm not telling you to reveal yourself to the world, but telling your friends about this is more than enough. The more people you have that you trust, the better life you'll get and the more protection you'll have against the harshness of others."_

_Blake said nothing as she stared at the Faunus before her. She found it incredible that someone like him, who was a part of the White Fang to the point where the leader changed and actively fought against it, would still retain the kind and gentle nature she as seeing. It may have been due to the fact that he was a father, but Blake was very grateful that there were some in her old organization that tried to go back to the way things were._

_"Well, I best be going. I have a load of 'old friends' I want to meet and I haven't had a chance to use my lucky torture knife in years. I want to make sure I'm not rusty, though. I don't want to end up killing my victim again. Lord knows how that turned out, hahaha!" Bo laughed joyfully, causing Blake to sweatdrop at his personality._

_"…Are all members of the Azul family this deranged or just you and your sons?" The cat girl asked dryly._

_"I'll leave you to figure that out on your own, child," Bo grinned before heading towards the door. Just as he was about to leave, he paused and turned to Blake once more, "One more thing. If you want to know more about the White Fang's plan, I suggest you go find their old haunts in the city. I know you are aware of their locations. Things are starting to pick up lately, so going to one of their rallies will help you out immensely. Take a Faunus friend with you, just in case something happens. Not my sons though. One would go on a frenzy as soon as he steps foot in it and the other is similar to me enough that he'll get mistaken as me if wears a mask, and things will go downhill if that happens. Maybe that new monkey friend of yours can assist you if he's able to."_

_"…I'll think about it, Mr. Bo. Thank you," Blake said with a nod._

_"You're welcome," The former White Fang higher-up nodded back before grabbing his mask and placed it back on his face, "Now, if you excuse me, I have to instill the fear of La Bestia del Rayo into some people. Have a nice night, Beauty of the Beast."_

_"You know my old title?" Blake gasped in shock, only to receive another grin in response, before the man walked out of the door with a light chuckle._

_-End Flashback-_

After that little talk, thoughts of Torchwick and the White Fang have been plaguing the girl's mind for a good while. While she was able to repress them most of the time to have fun with her friends, lately they have been more persistent, causing the drop in her mood. These thoughts were growing stronger, and she would've continued thinking like that for the rest of the night if it wasn't for the sound of her teammates entering.

"Ugh! We should have never let them played!" Yang exclaimed angrily as she and her friends entered the room, with one of them holding a certain cat on her shoulder.

"You're just mad because Dia and the new guy beat you!" Ruby giggled, both her and Yang unaware that Blake had got up, "See, if you had just attacked when I told you, none of this would have happened."

"Stop."

"Mow."

Blake stopped, her hand just inches at the door, as she realized she was caught. She didn't even sense Charcoal was sitting on Weiss's shoulder, but should've guessed. The black cat was going to be busy later on in the year, and made a point to spend as much time with her group of friends as it was able to, especially Weiss.

"Lately, you've been quiet, antisocial, and moody." The heiress spoke up as she pointed at her friend, with Charcoal nodding at every description she made.

"Uh… Have you _met_ Blake?" Yang spoke up sarcastically.

"Which I get, is kind of your 'thing', but you've been doing it more than usual," Weiss continued, prompting Blake to turn to her, "Which, quite frankly, is unacceptable."

"Meow ma-mow!" Charcoal nodded, putting its two lien in.

"You made a promise to me, to all of us, that you would let us now if something was wrong." Weiss stated calmly, before a fire began burning in her eyes and began to announce her next words, with the cat on her shoulder following suit. "So, Blake Belladonna! What Is Wrong!?"

"Mew!"

Everyone was struck speechless by the pair's actions. The two had, as they were asking their question, summersaulted into the air and landed on the chair that Charcoal moved earlier, and were now teetering on it, the both of them pointing their finger, or paw in one case, at the shadow ninja. Sensing that they were about to fall, and satisfied with their stunt, Weiss zipped the chair back into its place before zipping back, shuffling towards Blake in the process, and prompting Charcoal to look at the girl with big eyes, in hopes that she'll tell the others what she was thinking. It was only a few moments later, thankfully that their efforts were rewarded.

"I just… I just don't understand how everyone can be so calm…" Blake finally admitted.

"You're still thinking about Torchwick?" Ruby asked knowingly, causing her and Yang to frown.

"Torchwick, the White Fang, all of it! Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it!" Blake exclaimed.

"Ozpin told us not to worry. Between the police and the Huntsmen, I'm sure they can handle it," Yang assured.

"Well I'm not!" Blake shouted heatedly. "They don't know the White Fang like I do! The only other one who does who's on our side is Mr. Bo and he's only one man! Sure he has a lot of TGHA's to assist him but it's not enough! The White Fang has only gotten worse over the years and there's no way he can keep up with them!"

Hearing that statement caused the girls to go silent, contemplating what their friend just explained. As they stared, Charcoal's face perked up and its ears began to twitch before turning it's head to the door. A moment later, it jumped off the heiress's shoulder and left, but the girls paid no mind, having been used to the black cat's odd tendencies for a while now. Shortly after the cat left, however, Weiss began to speak.

"Ok…between blowing up night clubs, stopping thieves, crushing an army of rogue robots, and fighting for freedom, I'm sure the three of you think you're all ready to go out and apprehend these ne'er-do-wells."

"Uh…who?" Ruby asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"But let me once again be the voice of reason." Weiss continued undaunted.

"Says the girl who was a part of the robot slaying expedition." Yang pointed out.

"You know there was no getting out of that mess after the alarm went off. We had to fight, but let me say this. We're students, remember. We just got really lucky with those confrontations and luck can only get us so far. We're not ready to handle this sort of situation." The heiress countered.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"We're not ready!"

"And we may never be ready!" Blake shouted, interrupting Ruby and Weiss and catching their attention. "Our enemies aren't just gonna sit around and wait for graduation day! They're out there, somewhere, planning their next move, and none of us know what it is, but it's coming! Whether we're ready or not!"

"Ok!" Ruby spoke up with her hand raised. "All in favor of becoming the youngest huntresses to single-handedly bring down a corrupt organization conspiring against the kingdom of Vale, say 'Aye'!"

"Yes!" Yang exclaimed with a fist pump. "I love it when you're feisty."

"Well, I suppose it could be fun." Weiss shrugged indifferently.

"None of you said 'aye'…" The once hyped up teen muttered sadly.

"Alright then…we're in this together," Blake smiled, happy that she was getting the support of all her friends.

"Let's hatch a plan!" Ruby announced.

"Yeah!" Yang grinned, happy to see her sister was getting so pumped about this, before said sister gasped in worry.

"I left my board game in the library!"

"We're doomed…" Weiss muttered with a hand on her forehead and shook her head in disappointment as her leader began rushing out of the room to get her game.

"I'll be right back!"

*_Bam!*_

"Oof! Ohh… Sorry…" Ruby apologized, looking up to whoever she ran into. "Are…you ok?"

"I'm fine. Just watch were you're going," The green haired girl Ruby bumped into smiled as she offered her hand to Ruby.

"Oh…Right. Sorry," Ruby apologized as she accepted the hand and got up, before introducing herself to the girl and silver haired teen and noticed the different uniforms they were wearing. "Um…I'm Ruby! Are you…new?"

"Visiting from Haven, actually," Another female voice spoke up, causing the dark skinned girl to move away to reveal the one who spoke, an ebony haired girl with one of her eyes hidden behind her hair.

"They're with me, Rose Girl. After all, can't participate in the Vytal festival tournament without my teammates." A more haughty voice said from behind the young leader, causing her to turn around to see a familiar looking blonde woman in the same uniform as the other girls with red highlights in the bottom of her twin pigtails, making them look like dipped paint brushes.

"Oh! I remember you! Caldera right?" Ruby recalled.

"That's right. And those are my teammates. The silver one's Mercury. The green one's Emerald. And the black one is my leader; the top dog of team CCME (Cremate), Lady Cinder. She's one of the best out there, so get ready to get your ass handed to you if you fight her!" Caldera grinned with her arms crossed.

"Oh, Cal, stop. I'm not that good," Cinder laughed as she waved off her friend before turning to Ruby with a smile.

"Ooooh! You're here for the festival!" Ruby exclaimed, before realizing something, "Oh! But exchange students have their own dormitory!"

"I guess we just got turned around. Caldera tried to give us a tour, since she's been here before, but she has a shoddy memory at best." Mercury smirked.

"For the last time, we're not lost. We're taking the scenic route." The blonde pouted with her arms crossed.

"Hehe, don't worry, happens all the time!" Ruby giggled as Emerald and Mercury walked passed her to follow Caldera, who was already walking away. "Uh…your building is just east of here!"

"Thanks. Maybe we'll see you around." Cinder said with a small smile as she walked passed the young leader to join her teammates.

"Yeah, maybe! Oh! And welcome to Beacon!" Ruby exclaimed, making her greeting towards the end, completely unaware of the more sinister expressions that dawned on her new acquaintance's faces.

"Hey, Ruby! Who ya waving at!" A cheerful voice spoke up from behind the young leader.

"Oh, just some new exchange students. Nothing big," Ruby grinned as she turned around, but became confused by what she saw.

It was Levy that greeted her, who had the biggest smile she had seen in her life and had her game in her hands. In fact, the little rose couldn't recall the last time the medic looked this happy. It was kind of scaring her, honestly, what confused her. It was the cat sitting on her head. While something like that wasn't all that weird in her life anymore, it was the cat itself that was bothering her. It didn't look like any of the cats she'd seen Mr. Bo used. This one was brown with stripes all around its body, piercing green eyes that looked quite bored, and a violet collar. Seeing the sight of the overly cheerful healer before her was getting kind of disturbing, and Ruby couldn't hold in the question she wanted to ask anymore.

"Uh…Levy? Why are you so happy? And why do you have that cat on your head? It's not one of Mr. Azul's cats."

"It's because she's back!" Levy chirped before handing the still confused girl's game to her.

"Uh…Who's back?" Ruby asked.

"That's what we want to know," Jaune's voice spoke up as he and the others walked up from behind the disturbingly cheerful girl. "She's been repeating that as soon as that cat showed up and we have no idea what that means."

"And that's not all, either. Look at Chief." Dia stated while pointing her thumb behind her, where a traumatized Baltazar was standing with Charcoal sitting on his shoulder and rubbing his back soothingly. "Ever since the brown ball of striped fur showed up, he's been scared stiff, mumbling 'She's Back' over and over again. It's driving us nuts! Think you can get Weiss out here to check these two out? I think their brains are broken."

"Uhh…Ok?" Ruby muttered in confusion before turning around to call out to her friends. "Hey guys! The others are back and brought my game! Not only that, Levy and Baltazar are acting weird! Think you can see what's wrong with them, Weiss?"

"Huh? They're acting weird? What do you mean by…?" Weiss asked as she and the rest of RWBY came out of their room, only to trail off as soon as she saw the cat on Levy's head and paled dramatically.

"Weiss? You ok, girl?" Yang asked as she waved a hand in front of the stiff girl's face.

"She's back! Oh sweet Atlas, she's back!" Weiss whimpered, further confusing her friends, before rushing over to Baltazar and grabbed his shoulders tightly, causing Charcoal to fall off of him. "Baltazar! She's back! We have to hide now while we have the chance!"

"…It's too late. Horchata's already here and has our aura signatures memorized. If she really is back, then there's no way to hide from her…" Baltazar mumbled fearfully before grabbing Weiss's arms as well. "Weiss, please let this be a nightmare. I don't want to go through those experiments with her again! Our last project ended with me having flashlight eyes for a week! Do you have any idea how weird it is to have eyes that project beams of light!? It messes with your head! And your vision! I'm a metal smith, not a lab rat!"

"How do you think I feel!? She forced me to do a Dust experiment with her last time she visited my family's company and ended up making my hair change color depending on my mood! Everyone kept avoiding me because my hair kept changing from white to blue to orange to freaking pink! The color that my hair stayed the longest was red and I still have no idea why!" Weiss exclaimed, causing everyone to stare at one another, wondering what in the world was going on between the two.

"…Maybe because of how easily angry and annoyed you get? You do still have a bit of a temper…" Baltazar suggested, causing everyone to snicker at the true statement and Weiss to glare at him in annoyance.

"…Just shut up and hold me. I want to have some form of comfort before we end up being used by that witch!" Weiss hissed.

"Can someone please cut to the chase and tell us what's happening!?" Ash exclaimed, his patience having been worn thin throughout the day.

"She's here! That's what's happening! And we're doomed the moment she sees us!" Weiss yelled fearfully.

"Who is 'she'?" Nora asked.

"That…would be me."

Startled by the voice, everyone turned to see a woman with goggles grinning at them, her expressive green eyes showing a twinkle of mischief that was not hard to miss. Her presence caused a bit of confusion amongst the group, but three students in particular recognized the woman immediately.

"Oh shoot, she's here!" Weiss hissed fearfully.

"_Ay mierda_, we're dead." Baltazar mumbled in depression.

"Rita!" Levy exclaimed before rushing over to the woman and gave her a big hug, which was returned happily.

"Haha! Nice to see ya, Lala! Sorry I wasn't able to meet up with you in the reunions. My job makes it hard for me to travel to kingdoms, but I'm here now, and I'm staying here for a good while! Bet that makes you happy, eh?" Rita grinned, the striped cat now sitting on her shoulder, and began rubbing the young medic's head.

"Yup! I missed you so much Big Sister!" Levy chirped, causing everyone to stare at the pair in shock.

"Sister!?" The teens shouted.

"That's right. I'm sure my baby sister has mentioned me a few times! My name's Rosarita Inmaculada Teresa Azucena Morado, but you can call me Rita! I'm Lala's oldest sister and one super awesome huntress and researcher if I do say so myself," Rita grinned, polishing her fingernails in pride as she introduced herself.

"Uh… Hey, _prima_?" Baltazar spoke up, catching his older cousin's attention, "Not to be rude or anything, but is there any reason why you're here with us? I know you've been focusing on your job lately ever since you and Duke lost your teammates last year, and I'm aware that General Ironwood's planning to make his big announcement to the public next week…"

"Get to the point, Stripes. I don't have all day," Rita said rudely, her hug with her sister having long ended and was staring at the ninja impatiently.

"…This is Levy's sister?" Dia whispered, finding it hard to believe that someone like her was related to such a nice girl like Levy.

"She must take after her mom or something…" Ruby muttered, having met the medic's father during their visit to Forjador in the tour and was quite pleased with his kind and helpful demeanor.

"He's trying to ask why you are here with us. You literally have more important things to do because of your position as General Ironwood's right hand man. You should be assisting him with his big reveal instead of bothering us," Weiss explained in an annoyed tone.

"Oh, Boss gave me some time off to spend time with my family. I told him that my baby sister was going to school here, so now I have time to watch over her and see how she's progressing. Gotta keep the Morado legacy strong. Especially since she inherited Buelo's combat prowess." Rita explained, causing Levy to blush lightly at the praise, before the huntress began smiling evilly. "Which brings me to my next point!"

"And that is…?" Blake muttered in worry, not liking where this is heading.

"I want to see how strong you guys are. If you kids are good, then I'll feel better knowing that my sister's in safe hand. If not, then I'm gonna whip you all into shape until I deem you fools acceptable. I'm a certified instructor, so I can do that and no one can stop me!" Rita grinned, her expression quite cheerful and confident, as if she knew that the students had no chance of winning against her.

"Uh…Levy? How strong is your sister?" Ren asked nervously.

"You guy were told how strong Duke is, right?" Levy asked, getting nods in response, before continuing on with pride. "Rita is Duke's partner and leader of her old team, and was the only in Forjador who could ever fight him fairly and win. Very few are able to beat my big sister! In fact, the only ones that stand a chance against her are older huntsmen like Professor Goodwitch or Headmaster Ozpin because of their experience!"

"Oh, I'm not that great, Lala, buuuut, that's pretty much the gist of it!" Rita grinned.

"…Let me get this straight, Levy. You're telling us that your oldest sister used to fight Duke, a huntsman known to send his opponents to the hospital and kill Grimm in a brutal fashion because of his lust for battle…and beat him. And she expects us first year students, who have significantly less experience, to fight against her…_and win_?!" Pyrrha asked, squeaking a little in the end as the thought of fighting someone much stronger than her began registering in her head.

"¡_Sí_!" Levy chirped with a proud smile on her face, causing Rita to smile at her sister's faith in her and caused the others to pale drastically as they realized what they had just gotten themselves. It was only a few moments later that the blonde beauty of RWBY decided to say what was on all of their minds at the moment.

"Well, we're boned…"

Author's note:

Well, guys, here you go. I hope you guys liked how I did this chapter. I will admit that this one took a lot longer to finish than the second one. I actually had to put chapter two of Hymn of Reminiscence on hold to get this, and the Christmas special done. It was a very difficult decision on my part, but I hope I did this chapter justice. As you might have guess by the ending of this chapter, there will be one more to go before I go into the next arc of the story, but allow me to remind you folks that the next arc won't be from canon, but an original arc. It will be three chapters and will be a crossover story with me and fellow fanfic writer Xentryn. I'm not entirely sure how this will turn out, to be honest, because we originally planned to have our stories actually intersect at this point, but his story, The Chronicles of ZFRR, is going at a slower pace than normal recently. The story itself is pretty good. A few iffy spots here and there due to him being more used to writing scripts than actual stories, but ok for a first attempt. I request that you check out his fanfic whenever you have the chance in order to support him and his story. It's an O.C. only story, so don't expect anyone from the canon to show up until at least his second book, so don't be disappointed if you don't find anyone recognizable in his work yet.

I hope that you guys enjoyed the little twists I added in this chapter, especially the bit between Neptune and Baltazar. As stated in the story, Baltazar is indeed overprotective, wanting to make sure that anyone he deems precious, especially Weiss, is safe. As overprotective as he is, that actually doesn't transfer over to jealousy. He trusts Weiss, and knows that she will dissuade anyone who is interest in her in any way he can. Doesn't stop him from playing the overprotective card and try and scare any potential fiends that might want to have their way with her. He has to have his fun every once in a while.

In any case, the next chapter is going to be an original one, and one that will end what I call the Introductory Arc. You're about to see a bunch of our favorite students get their butt handed to them by someone who I consider to be one of the most broken and overpowered players in one of my favorite RPGs of all time: Tales of Vesperia. As to who Rosarita is based off of, for those who don't remember her from her brief time in Archipelago Adventures before I deleted it, here's a hint: She prefers to be called Rita and would often introduce herself as Rita Morado because of that. In her last name, replace the 'a' with an 'i' and switch it around with the 'd' and you'll learn who Rosarita is based off of. And just so you'll know, Rosarita is just as powerful as her and they will share many techniques. So yeah, expect everyone to be struck by various stalagmites, washed away by a raging whirlpool, roasted in a pillar of fire, and so much more! Not to mention a little chat between The Tin Man and the Azure Claw and a few cameos of another person's O.C.s…with permission of course. As always, my friends, thank you so much for reading and I hope you'll have a great and safe holiday. See you at Christmas for my second BLAD of RWBY and JNPR holiday special and the third chapter of Hymn of Reminiscence…hopefully.


	3. The Witch's Approval

Heyo, mates! It's been a while! Black Fuego here with chapter three of my second main story, Scattered Symphony. I know I said that I was hoping to get a holiday special out in December, but things got busy with family and all and I couldn't make the time. Not to mention that I had a bad case of writer's block for most of my vacation and a mess of other distractions that prevented me from writing, even when I wanted to. I hate it when this happens, but hey, that's life. This chapter was pretty difficult to write in the first place though, and it did take me a while to get it done. As I said, fight scenes are not my strong suit, but I hope it was satisfactory to say the least. As always, folks, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter of my story and have yourselves a wonderful day.

Disclaimer: I don't own the RWBY series nor any other references that were made in this story. I also don't own a TF2 Golden Frying pan, but if I did, I would keep it and possibly sell it for a lot of cash…unlike some TF2 player who actually deleted his pan. Seriously, who deletes a $3000 virtual weapon of mass destruction and annoyance!? That's throwing away money right there!

The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR II: Scattered Symphony

Chapter 3: The Witch's Approval

"We are dead. We are doomed. We are finished. We are not going to survive. We are completely and utterly-"

"Weiss! We get it! We're boned six ways to Sunday! I already stated that, no need to bring it up again!" Yang growled out irritably, glaring at the rapidly pacing heiress before her.

The pair, along with their teammates and friends of teams JNPR and BLAD, were currently in BLAD's room, having been offered to join the team's room for a bit of planning for their upcoming battle against the medic's older sister tomorrow. The medic herself was not with them, however. Instead, she was with her sister to catch up on lost time, something the pair desperately wanted, considering they had not seen each other in a long time. The room itself had undergo a few changes since the beginning of the semester, with a couple large bookshelves filled with Levy's medical texts, a dartboard that was very worn in the center by thanks to Dia, a few weights and a punching bag off to the side, obviously belonging to Ash, and a small workshop filled with tools, blueprints and many other items that were being used by Baltazar.

"You are severely underestimating what that witch is capable of, Yang! We might as well give up now!" Weiss exclaimed hysterically, stopping her pacing in front of Baltazar's bed to glare at Yang, who was sitting on Levy's bed with Blake.

"Oh come on. She can't be that bad! She's Levy's sister, after all!" Nora chirped, sitting on Dia's bed with Ren while Jaune and Pyrrha sat on Ash's bed.

"Are you kidding?! Rita's one of the fiercest people out there! She's cocky, stubborn, rude, eccentric, has a poor social disposition, and is not afraid to use her powers on anyone that annoy her! She even a borderline mad scientist and won't even think twice to use people as part of her experiments!" The frantic heiress hissed.

"Are you serious?" Ren muttered in disbelief.

"You're looking at two of her favorite test subjects…" Weiss grumbled, now slightly calmer, before gesturing to herself and Baltazar, who was sitting at his workshop seemingly tinkering away with another project of his.

"Weiss may be exaggerating a little bit, but for the most part, _Prima Rosarita_ is indeed that twisted most of the time…" Baltazar confirmed, not looking away from his work and effectively scaring his friends.

"Ah hell. Are you seriously telling us that we are supposed to fight against someone who's possibly more demented than our leader?" Dia whined, crossing her arms and leaning on her partner's punching bag.

"We get it from my dad. Rita was his hunter apprentice growing up, so it's no surprise that she picked up a few things from him…" The forger sighed, not at all denying that he was a little warped in the head, before turning to the others, giving them his full attention, "Rita and Duke, along with their teammates Slate Blizzard and Brooke Rivers, made up a powerful assault team called Team RSBD, one of the best teams General Ironwood trained in his school. A strong team with good chemistry, they were amongst the best huntsmen in their generation up until last year, where they went on a mission to a certain island in southern Remnant. The four of them left the island together, but only Rita and Duke came out alive…"

"I've heard about that incident…" Pyrrha mumbled sadly. "They went on a dangerous mission to exterminate some dangerous Grimm over at a place called Jeweled Flower Island… But the mission was mislabeled, the one who requested the mission didn't know about the dangers of that land and made the request with poor intel. The team went to that island completely unprepared, and in the end…only two members survived."

"Jeweled Flower Island…? She and that Duke guy went there and made it back? Mother of God…" Dia muttered in surprise, catching the other's attention, before looking away from the others, "I know of that place… Crap tons of dangerous stuff there, not just Grimm. If Team RSBD really did go there…then I'd consider it a miracle that there as even one survivor, let alone two."

"You know about that place, partner?" Ash asked curiously, sitting on a nearby desk as an odd thought formed in the back of his mind, "_Jeweled Flower Island… Ma told me about it once when she was hammered. I think she mentioned about a certain village there, but I can't remember the specifics. Why does Dee make me think about that, though…?_"

"A bit, but I can't really go into specifics. A girl has to keep her secrets, after all," Dia stated with a wry smile before focusing back to Weiss, "In any case, if we're dealing with someone who ended up going to that island unprepared and lived, then we have ourselves one hell of a fight ahead of us, eh, Weiss?"

"Oh, you have no idea…" The heiress groaned as she slumped onto the bed, laying down right next to Ruby, "The two of us share the same semblance and have similar fighting styles, but unlike me, who uses glyphs as support and attack using the Dust in my rapier, she uses Dust with her glyphs to actually summon or manipulate certain elements. She can summon flurries of fireballs, trap us in a whirlpool, strike us with a burst of rock and stone from right below us, and can even pelt us with a load of _meteors_ if she wanted to…"

"Please tell me you're not serious…" Jaune whimpered, looking white as a sheet at the thought of fighting someone like Rita.

"Oh she's serious. With her knowledge with Dust and with the weapons she made during her apprenticeship with Pop, Rita's a force to be reckoned with." Baltazar spoke up, "The types of Dust that she uses are Fire, Water, Earth and Lightning, all of which allowing her to create a multitude of spells that she can beat us with. She can only use one type at a time, though, and some of her stronger techniques require a bit of time and focus to execute. Best way to fight her is through close combat, where most of us specialize in, but she has ways to counter such fighters, so we're in for a tough fight…"

"Uh…why don't we simply allow her to train us?" Ren suggested reasonably with a shrug, "I mean, if we lose, all we'll get is some training anyways. The tournament's coming soon and I think that getting some help from an experience huntress outside our school is-"

"NO!" Weiss screamed, startling almost everyone in the room, "No! We can't afford to lose! If we do, then Rita will be not holding back on us! She will work us to the ground, force us to go past our limits, and will put us to the brink of death over and over until she deems us worthy! And she'll do that immediately! We can't afford to go through something like that right now!"

"Huh? That's an odd thing to hear from your mouth, Ice Queen…" Ash questioned in mild confusion. "You're normally all gung-ho about excelling and being the best, and from the sounds of it, training with Lev's sister, while grueling, will put us over the top. Why the change of heart, and don't kid us with the fact that you don't like her."

"…It's not the training that's the problem. It's her timing…" Weiss mumbled reluctantly.

"Timing?" Pyrrha repeated.

"We don't want to talk about it at the moment. All you guys need to know is that there's something that we need to do really soon, and if we end up being forced to do this training thing, then things will not end well for us. Trust me…" Yang stated in a serious tone.

"…It's going to involve Blake's old group, isn't it?" Baltazar muttered, his cool tone and accurate assumption causing the girls to flinch.

"…It does," Blake said reluctantly, knowing that the jig was up, "I've been wondering what Roman and the White Fang have been up to for weeks now and it's frustrating me that no one's come up with anything about them yet. We decided earlier that we're going to look into the matter, but with Rita coming in and announcing her plans, it caught us in a bad spot."

"Do you guys want us to help out? Dealing with a group like the White Fang will be dangerous, and there is safety in numbers," Ren suggested.

"No. This has to be a team thing. We can't let you guys get involved. It doesn't concern you and we really don't want any of you getting hurt because of this," Weiss said firmly.

"And letting you guys risk your lives by yourselves to follow a kingdom renowned criminal and a group of violent extremists?! Not happening!" Dia exclaimed.

"Dia, calm down. We're not going to head into the darker side of the world unprepared. We were going to plan on how to execute our mission before I ran into a team of exchange students from Haven. There's nothing to worry about," Ruby assured.

"But what if your plan fails! What if one of you guys gets captured or something! Hell, what if _Weiss_ gets captured! The White Fang target her company all the time! Do you think they'll pass up the chance to execute the heiress to the company they've been at war with for years!?" The archer stressed.

"Dia, I think you're overthinking this a little too much," Yang muttered with her arms crossed.

"And I think you're underestimating the severity of your little plot!" Dia shouted before turning to her leader. "Chief, can you please talk some sense into these guys?"

"…I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think it's best to let them handle it by themselves, guys," Baltazar spoke up, getting looks of surprise from everyone in the room.

"Seriously? I would've thought you of all people would be against them trying to find out what the White Fang are up to, considering…well…you know…" Jaune said uncomfortably while looking at Weiss.

"I may not like what they're planning, but they brought up some good points." Baltazar stated in a calm tone, "No one would expect a bunch of kids to try and infiltrate a borderline criminal organization to discover their plan. And such an operation requires precision and timing, something that will be nearly impossible if they end up being forced to be trained by Rita or if any of us decide to tag along. Besides if any of us end up tagging along with them, it'll raise suspicion among the school, something that we do not want happening. If they want to do this, then they have to do it without us, at least not directly. We can help them in other ways, like beating Rita to allow them to plan and execute the mission, but other than that, it's all them, and we won't interfere unless absolutely necessary."

"But…Chief-"

"But nothing, Dia," The leader spoke harshly, interrupting his team sniper, "I know you don't like it when one of our friends does something stupid like this, but you have to think about this logically. If this is the best way for them to figure out the White Fang's plan, so be it. If you don't agree with this, then deal with it. We are being trained to deal with life or death situations, and eventually stuff like this will be the norm. I know it sucks, but the sooner you realize that, the easier it is to accept that fact."

Dia, along with a lot of the others, were speechless by the ninja's words. Many were expecting him to be the most adamant about team RWBY not going out to find out the secrets of the White Fang, but what he said did make sense. Even Weiss wasn't expecting him to be ok with it, so hearing that he was going to support her, albeit a little reluctantly, made her feel both happy and a little ashamed for not having more faith in him. Wanting to show the ninja some gratitude, the young heiress got up from her spot on the bed and walked up to him, where she proceeded to hug him in thanks

"Baltazar…thanks. You have no idea what this means to us…" The heiress said in a quiet tone.

"Just do your best to not get hurt or killed at least when you execute this mission." The ninja sighed, giving his girl a slight squeeze before ending the embrace, "Besides, I know how dark the world can be, and in some cases, the best way to rid the world of said darkness is to go to the source of it. If I remember right, there was a saying that Professor Qrow said back at my last year at Signal that pretty much sums up what you are all doing."

"_You want to set the world straight, but you will fail if you wait or hesitate. So take aim and pull the trigger back_," Yang recited with a small smile.

"There we go," Baltazar nodded as Weiss walked back to the bed with an impressed expression towards her blonde teammate.

"Ugh… Fine. We won't get involved. But if crap ends up hitting the fan, we're stepping in. No argument." Dia grumbled.

"I think we can agree to that…" Ren nodded.

"Should we tell Levy about this, though?" Nora asked.

"Bad idea, Bombette. You know she can't keep a secret. Trust me, its best that we keep this from her." Ash spoke up, feeling a little reluctant about it.

"Very true, but I know we'll feel guilty about it, though," Pyrrha sighed.

"We can tell her after this blows over. I just hope she understands why we kept this from her…" Jaune muttered.

As the seven teens talked amongst themselves, team RWBY stared at each other with tired, but grateful expressions. They knew that their friends would try to find a way to get involved, but they were grateful that they were understanding enough to allow their team only mission. With a nod to the rest of the team, the young leader cleared her throat in order to catch her friends, with much success.

"Thanks guys. We really appreciate it. And sorry for not letting you guys in on this." Ruby said kindly.

"You dudes owe us big time for getting our asses kicked and covering your asses in the near future. I can tell we are going to be in for a world of hurt tomorrow…" Ash groaned.

"Oh like you wouldn't go through this again if we had to. You can't say no to a bunch of pretty girls, Ash," Dia teased with a grin, causing her partner to laugh and nod in admittance.

"This has got to be the worst idea…ever…but you can count us in," Jaune spoke up for his team reluctantly, but there was no hiding the small smile in his face.

"You try to break some legs for me while you're going out and we're golden!" Nora chirped, causing everyone to laugh at her enthusiasm.

"Maybe, Nora. I think the place where I need to go might allow me to do just that…or bust some balls again. We'll see," Yang grinned sinisterly.

"Alright, now that we're all in agreement, let's get working on how to beat Rita," Weiss spoke up with a clap. "Guys, gather around. I know a lot about her, so we'll come up with a strategy to beat her."

"Start the planning without me. I'll be listening, but I want to try and finish my current project before the fight tomorrow." Baltazar spoke up before turning his attention back to his workshop.

"And what project is that?" Yang asked curiously.

"…I think it's time to give Lightning Hymn her first test run." The lightning ninja announced, getting everyone's attention, "I may not be fighting against a Grimm, Rita's a good substitute. The sword's still needs some work, but the progress that I've made with it so far should be enough to give us an edge…at least I hope so."

"You're planning on testing your new sword on your older cousin? Isn't that a little…unethical?" Pyrrha asked politely.

"This is the same cousin that used to test her experiments on me when I was younger. In fact, I think she's one of the only relative that I have that's outside my father's family that intentionally messed with me, although thankfully for much different reasons. I consider this payback, to be honest…" Baltazar stated as he grabbed his inactive sword and began inspecting it.

"I fully support that decision," Weiss chirped eagerly before giggling somewhat sinisterly as thoughts of the professor being cut up by a sword began filling her head, causing everyone to sweatdrop at the heiress's behavior.

"…You got some issues, girl," Yang sighed in mild amusement and exasperation before quirking and eyebrow at her fellow Signal graduate, "Uh…Sparky, are you sure you should be tinkering with your flute sword like that? Didn't you say the release mechanisms on that thing are still twitchy?"

"Its fine, Flare. I fixed that bug a while back, so no worries," Baltazar assured with a smile as he gave the inactive weapon a gentle pat.

*_SHINK*_

"AAAH!"

"…What?" Baltazar asked in confusion, wondering why the girls, and Jaune, were screaming like a murder just happened.

"Uh…Chief? I think your flute sword still has a few kinks on it." Dia said dryly, she and Ash not at all bothered by the sight before her.

"How do you figure?"

"Baltazar…? How are you not feeling that?" Ren asked nervously.

"Feeling what?" The ninja asked once more, further confusing and scaring his non-team friends.

"Dude…your hand," Ash stated in exasperation while pointing at said limb.

"What about it?" Baltazar questioned as he looked down, and finally noticed the reason why his friends screamed.

Lightning Hymn was activated, in Combat Mode, and currently penetrating through the leader's palm. And his response for having a sword piercing through his hand?

"Oh, look at that. I've been impaled, hehe." The ninja chuckled calmly with a smile, even going so far as to poke the sword by the still bloody blade with pierced hand as he laughed, before swiftly pulling it out, leaving a thin, but very bloody hole in his hand and causing some of the girls, and Jaune, to faint at the sight.

"I'll get the med-kit…" Dia sighed.

-Scattered Symphony-

"Ahh…life is good today! I may have gotten lost for most of the day, but I listened in on a private conversation with my boss and his colleague, with said colleague's help, met a nice rabbit girl and gave her a vial of my new experimental Dust as a thanks, met up with my baby sister and scared her friends, and, to top it off, threatened and mess with nearly an entire army's worth of students to not say anything about Snowpea's and Stripe's relationship outside of campus and Stripe's heritage or else they'll be my new test subjects! Again, life is good!" Rita sighed in content as she and Levy relaxed on a nearby bench in the courtyard.

"Is it really that bad if word gets out that they are together, Big Sister?" Levy asked curiously as she pet her sister's brown, striped cat, known as Horchata, on her lap.

"Oh yeah. Sure their folks are ok with them being together, but you have to remember that almost no one knows that AA Inc.'s run by a family of Faunus outside our home. Not to mention the backlash that'll happen if people learn that the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company is currently going out with a Faunus. No one will be happy if that can of worms ends up opening, so Old Man Wolke asked me to make sure that those who know about them keep quiet about it." Rita winced as she thought of all the things that could happen if word got out about that.

"But Baltazar doesn't care about those things… He doesn't even hide his eyes or stripes." The medic pointed out.

"Very true, but he's always had a soft spot for Snowpea, ever since they were little, and knows how important it is for her to keep her reputation. He knows when to hide his heritage when the situation calls it, so he won't say anything about him being a Faunus unless someone points it out. He technically hides his heritage on a regular basis since he is, after all, an AA Inc. employee." The professor explained, "Besides, I plan on sending him a message shortly after we're done talking to get himself a bit of a wardrobe change. I'm well aware that most of his shirts are sleeveless, so it's best that he stops wearing that thing anymore…for his and Snowpea's sake."

"Ah, that makes sense…" Levy nodded.

"Besides that, though, I am _really_ looking forward to tomorrows little fight! It's been a while since I've spared with some kids, and from what I've saw and read about your little group, it'll be fun." Rita said with a wide grin as she clapped her hands together and rubbed them sinisterly.

"Uh…Rita?" Levy spoke up, "Are you going to take it easy on them? I know you're strong, but I don't think they can handle you at full strength."

"Of course I won't go all out! I'm not Duke, I know when to take it easy," Rita exclaimed in a mock hurt tone before grinning sinisterly once more, "Doesn't mean I won't make it easy for them, though. If I'm going to trust them with you, then I have to make sure they work hard for it."

"Ok, that's go-"

"And don't think you're not part of it either, my cute little sister!" The elder of the two announced, causing the young one to flinch, "I read the reports of your last semester. While I'm impressed that you hold the record for fastest victory in exam spars, I'm a little disappointed that you still resort to the pressure point trick you added to your Eight Trigrams Palm style of martial arts. That trick won't work on armored opponents, Grimm, or people who are faster or more evasive than you. Not only that, the reports said that the _only_ martial art skill you've exhibit so far is the Eight Trigrams Palm style! No Tai Chi, no Northern Shaolin, no Southern Praying Mantis, nothing! What's the use of knowing Buelo's skills if you're not going to use them to kick ass?! And don't get me started on the lack of the tesla rounds I created for your guns! You have a strong affinity to electricity and it's high time for you to use it!"

"B-But Abuelito said to only use my other martial arts for self-defense and my lightning affinity for emergencies!" Levy stated nervously.

"Yeah, when you were ten and nearly electrocuted Duke when messing with my Enhanced Elemental Dust Charms. Don't think I forgotten about that…" Rita said as she pointed to her choker, bracelets and anklets, causing Levy to flinch greatly and lower her head in shame, before the professor continued. "You know, now that I think about it…that was around the time you discovered your semblance. You had your aura active for a while and as soon as you shocked Duke, your healing powers kicked in to try and save him. As soon as that happened, you went to the side of medicine and ended up being the combat medic you are now."

"Bi…Big Sister…I…"

"Save it, Lala. It wasn't entirely your fault that my partner nearly got himself killed by a curious ten year old. If anything, it was mine for not having a safety lock or something integrated into my charms. A young, curious Morado is not something that should be trifled with…" Rita interrupted, gently patting her sister's head in comfort, before continuing, "Besides, you're older and in much better control over your powers than before. All you need is the proper training and you'll be able to get over your minor fear of manipulating lightning to do all sorts of cool and very helpful skills. Trust me."

"…I guess," Levy sighed, still feeling a little upset.

"Oh come on, Lala, buck up!" The professor grinned while giving the medic a hard pat on the back, causing her to stumble off the bench and for Horchata to jump off her lap on onto its owner's shoulder, "Have more confidence in yourself! You a skilled huntress-to-be with abilities and talent most people would do give up anything for, a personality that's so friendly that I'd swear even the Grimm would warm up to you, and, above all, a smoking hot body that will leave guys drooling if you go out with only your shirt and shorts."

"Rita, my body isn't all that special. I just eat right. Sure I know more about what food allows me to perform at optimum levels because of my medical knowledge, but it's something everyone in our profession needs to know early on." Levy stated as she got up, not at all bothered by being sent on the floor by her sister.

"Nonsense! No one can have curves like you by just eating right! Even Cousin Clara didn't have a body like you at any point in her life before she had kids, and she was a supermodel _and_ a huntress! Best combo for the perfect body!" Rita exclaimed as she stood up, getting attention from many people passing by, before rushing up behind Levy and began firmly groping her chest, much to the surprise, and pleasure in some cases, of their impromptu audience. "And don't get me started on these puppies! What kind of milk was Mom feeding you for you to have boobs like these! They're on par with that blonde brawler girl I've meet earlier!"

"HAHAHA! Si-Sister! Stop, please, HAHAHA! That-HAHAHA-T-Tickles!" Levy cried out hysterically as her sister continued to squeeze her, admittedly, large assets.

"Not until I find out the secrets of your body, my little sister/test subject!" Rita announced before moving her arms to the younger girl's waist, causing her to shriek in laughter once more, "Hmm…still ticklish on the waist, but the curves are practically perfect! Horchata, make a mental note on that!"

"Meow!" The cat on the elder's shoulder saluted.

"KYAHAHA! S-SISTER! S-STOP! PLE-HEHEHE-EAS!"

"Not until I find my answers!"

"Mew!"

As the two sisters continued on with their 'fun', they were not aware that their actions caught the attention of nearly every person in Beacon. Seeing such a sight caused similar trains of thought to appear in the heads of many onlookers.

For the guys staring at Rita groping Levy: '_This is the hottest thing I've ever seen…_'

For the girls analyzing Levy's figure: '_What's her secret for getting such a great body?_'

-The Next Day-

"Well, well…you kids actually showed up. Gotta give you all props for showing guts!" Rita grinned from the center of the coliseum, which she borrowed for the day to do her 'evaluation' on the twelve students before her.

"It was either this and try to win our freedom or give up and leave ourselves to your mercy. After telling the others about you, take a guess what they chose," Weiss said calmly.

"Eh, fair enough…" The Dust Witch shrugged before noticing the bandages wrapped around the hand of a certain ninja and spoke in amused tone. "Impaled yourself with a blade again, Stripes?"

"Risk of being a forger, cousin." Baltazar shrugged uncaringly, expertly ignoring the multitude of glares he was getting from his friends.

"I hear ya. I can't even begin to count how many times I blew myself up trying to get my charms perfect," Rita nodded before taking another look at her cousin, "And it looks like you got the message I sent you. Nice to see you taking my advice."

"Eh, figured I need a change in wardrobe anyways. Cody got himself a new look, might as well follow suit," The lightning ninja shrugged once more and a certain heiress couldn't help but stare at the ninja beside her.

Gone was the sleeveless polo shirt and short sleeved trench coat that had been with him since the beginning of the year. Now the ninja wore a midnight blue long sleeved turtleneck shirt with thin gold bands below both elbows underneath a navy blue winter vest with his emblem on the back and his sword strapped over the symbol. He also wore a pair of matching midnight blue pants that ended at the calf with a pair of solid black shoes and white athletic tape covering the gap between the pants and shoes, a small holster tied to his right leg that was above another small wrap of tape, a weapons pouch on the back of his hip and a black, rectangular case hanging on his right side. His glasses were also changed into shades, something that Rita approved of. In fact, the only things that stayed the same on him were the scar on his face, the active gauntlets, and a glimmer of gold around his neck, which showed that he was still wearing the Schnee necklace that Weiss made him under his vest. All in all, he looked quite a bit more professional than when he first showed up at Beacon, and in one person's case, a lot more handsome

"Hey Weiss, stop drooling at the sight of your beau and focus," Dia chided teasingly as soon as she noticed the heiress's eyes were practically glued to the shinobi's new look.

"…Huh?" Weiss muttered, not even bothering to move her eyes from the now bemused Baltazar and causing the others to laugh.

"Hahaha! That never gets old!" Yang grinned as she laughed before turning to her newly dressed friend, "Gotta say, though, I didn't expect you to wear that get-up again. You haven't worn that since our trip to the mountains with our dads back at Signal."

"Meh, when I got the message from Rita to be more discrete with my appearance, I thought these clothes would fit the bill. They hide my stripes, they're comfortable, and I have a load of storage space because of the extra pockets in my padded vest. I don't plan on wearing this often, but it works." The ninja explained as he pressed the side of his glasses, causing the lenses to retract into the frame and be replaced by their normal, "Although I wish I had a good trench coat or duster that went along with this. I like long coats…"

"Yeah, no kidding," Rita chuckled as she shook her head, "So, you think you can move all that well with all that gear? That vest you have looks pretty heavy…"

"I don't know. Why don't we test it out?" Baltazar said calmly as he drew his older sword from his back, prompting the others to draw their weapons, and glare at the amused mage.

"Oh, looks like the kids are ready to play, eh?" Rita cooed mockingly, causing some tic marks to form on some of her opponent's heads, before raising her hands up and activated her charms.

The bracelets began to glow in a mix of red and orange, and shortly after that, two small glyphs appeared above the mage's palms. Within seconds, two fireballs the size of basketballs appeared floating above her hand, and with a wicked grin, she spoke in a more excited and mildly sadistic tone.

"Alright, my cute future test subjects…it's eleven now and you got until noon to impress me. If you fail to meet my expectations, however, then prepare for the harshest training of your life. Do any of you want to back down?"

"Not a chance," The twelve teens stated firmly and tightened their grips on their weapons, which brought a small smirk on the professor's tone.

"Very well, then. Let's play…"

-In town-

"Hmm… Looks like Vale is really getting into the spirit of things," Ironwood said as he walked down the streets of Vale.

It was a nice day out the army general/academy headmaster was making his way towards his next destination; the home of his new assistance's uncle. He was informed by said assistant that she was planning on testing some of Ozpin's students to see how proficient they were and Ironwood gave her the ok. He knew that those students were her sister and her friends, so he was ok with her wanting to ensure that the children were up to her standard.

The man let off a small smirk as he began thinking of his new employee. When he made the offer for her to be his assistant a year ago, he honestly didn't think she'd accept, considering she lost two of her teammates at the time, but was pleasantly surprise when she said yes to the job. Thanks to her help, a lot of his students have become more successful in such a short amount of time. Granted her methods are a bit…extreme…but if it produced results, then he won't argue.

_He_ taught her well.

"Ah. Here we are," The man said as he paused from his walk, standing right in front of the store he was looking for. With a small smile, he entered the store and simply stood at the door, seeing that the person he wished to speak to was currently busy with a customer.

"Ok then, I'll let my father know. I doubt he'll say no to a partnership, though. He's always liked your family and admits to have used your wears every now and then. Granted they were for comparison with our products, but that's a different story. In any case, I'll talk to him and if I get his ok, I'll let you girls know," Bo said kindly to the two young women in front of him, one being a short haired brunette with red, blue and gold huntress clothing and a slightly older long haired bluenette wearing similar clothing, but more blue than red.

"Thanks, Mr. Azul. I hope your father says yes to the proposal. He's been hoping for a collaboration with our companies for a while and you have given us hope that this project might be successful." The blue haired woman said calmly with a bow, causing the younger of the two to follow suit, albeit much more nervously.

"Y-Yeah! T-Thanks so much!"

"As my boys always say; no worries," Bo smiled. "Eri, Sumi, would you like me to escort you to Beacon? From what I've heard from your father, Sumi has a tendency to get lost in large, industrial places such as Vale. It actually reminds me of some of my nieces and nephews from my wife's family actually, along with my oldest boy. Must've gotten it from their grandfather…"

"Y-You know about that!?" The brunette, Sumi, exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Hahaha. Its fine, sir. We can find Beacon, no problem. I have been here before," The blue haired Eri smiled as she pat the younger girl's head. "Besides, it seems that you have another customer waiting for you…"

"Oh that's just Ironwood. He can wait outside with my cats for all I care. Making sure the two children of Green Embers Industry's C.E.O. get to Beacon safely is much more important than talking to that old war hawk." Bo smirked, causing Sumi to squeak in surprise, Eri to quirk an eyebrow, and Ironwood to chuckle quietly.

"I'm not that much of a war hawk, Bo. I know how to relax and have fun on occasion." The general joked as he entered into the repair shop.

"And yet you did not deny the 'old' part. Accepting your rising age there, eh, General?" Bo teased.

"Like you haven't already, you retired old beast…" Ironwood countered before smiling softly, "It's nice to see you, my old friend. I wished you'd accepted my offer as one of my school's instructors or a commanding officer, but I can see you're much happier here."

"Likewise, bud. Likewise," The former huntsman smiled as he extended his arm out to the army general, who shook it firmly.

"Well, if you two are about to talk, then its best that we leave. Thank you for your time, Mr. Azul. I hope my family hears from yours soon." Eri said politely as she and her sister walked out the door.

"Alright. See you children later, and if you end up meeting my son, my niece and their friends at Beacon, introduce yourselves to them. I'm sure they'll like your company." Bo suggested.

"We'll think about it. Come on, Sumi. Let's look for our teams," The young woman said as she exited the store.

"Right! Thanks for everything!" Sumi said with a smile and a wave before exiting the building herself.

"Heh, looks like the world will be in safe hands with children like them looking after it. The new generation is full of promise…" Bo mused out loud with a small smile.

"Indeed." Ironwood nodded with a smile as well before steeling himself towards the retired huntsman. "Listen, Bo. There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Does this have to do with that talk about Qrow's message and Ozpin's lack of action? I know you two were talking yesterday, so no need to be discrete…" The Faunus stated in a serious tone, a single eye glowing sapphire as he stared at the man before him.

"…Why am I not surprised you know about my talk with Oz." Ironwood sighed as he shook his head in exasperation.

"I am an espionage expert, James. Don't underestimate my ability to gather information." The Faunus said calmly.

"Alright then, I'll just cut to the chase." Ironwood nodded before clearing his throat, "Listen, Bo. I know you're a good friend of Oz, but even you have to admit that he is making a mistake by simply doing nothing. I suggest-"

"If you're suggesting that I call up my old team and have them become active just to deal with this situation, then I'm going to have to say no, James." Bo interrupted, surprising the general before him. "I'm already doing my part and its best that the others don't get involved. They know the situation and we all agreed that I'm the only one among us to deal with it."

"But what if this becomes something you can't handle, Bo? You may be one of the strongest and fastest huntsmen in our generation, but that was a long time ago. You're not what you're used to be, and may let me remind you that the injury from your final mission didn't just effect your left eye…" Ironwood glared, "Your right eye can't dilate as well as it used to and your right arm got damaged badly. It's a miracle that you can even move the darn thing. Doesn't it still hurt when you use it?"

"I'm well aware of my condition, James, and let me assure you that, even with my right arm going, I can still fight with the best of them should the situation arrive." Bo assured before bringing his arm up and clenched it, "Besides, this thing still has a few more punches and slashes before being forced into retirement, and I intend to use them before my life is gone."

"And when it does fail, what will happen to your job? Or your claw gauntlets? It'll be difficult for you to fight if you can only use one of them." Ironwood pressed.

"I have a contingency plan for this place if that happens and I'm more than capable of working on repairs with one hand." The Faunus said calmly before smirking, "And remember, my Cobalt Shredders aren't the only weapons that I have in possession. If worse comes to worse, then the Twin Storms will make a re-appearance…along with my other blade. It's no Hiraishin, but it's the closest thing I have to it."

"Ah, I forgot you tried to recreate your ancestor's legendary blade…and I've also heard what happened to said legendary sword as well," The general chuckled in mild amusement. "To think, one of the best swords that was used during the war was in the hands of one of your sons for a good decade before being returned to the family that once wielded it. Funny how life works like that…"

"…You've been talking to Ulysses, haven't you?" Bo sighed in annoyance. "Eh, at least the sword's back with the Yasur family. No need for anyone to use that fragile old lightning rod anymore. Did you know that the materials used for that blade made it not only allowed it to attract true lightning much easier than most metals, but made it more prone to breaking than other swords! I swear my boy had to repair the thing hundreds of times when he wielded it! What was my ancestor thinking when-"

"Alright, Bo, I understand. No need to hear the patented Azure Forge Rant. I enough of that from your niece, thank you very much…" Ironwood muttered in exasperation, shaking his head a little, before staring at the Faunus with a conflicted expression. "So…you're fully supporting Ozpin's plan to simply wait around, huh."

"We are not waiting around, James. We're doing our parts to ensure that our home is safe from anything that tries to harm it." Bo said firmly, "Oz is ensuring that no one finds out what's going on so that there won't be any unease in our time of peace, while I try and uncover what these fiends Qrow discovered are up to. I am also going to get some help from Corax, so things will become much easier once he shows up."

"Corax? That old pervert? I fear that the women of Vale are not going to be happy when he appears," Ironwood chuckled.

"He's going to use this opportunity to give himself some inspiration for one of his books, he admit to that much, but he's playing it somewhat seriously this time around. Especially since, apparently, his apprentice is actually going to school at Beacon. He wants to ensure that her plans to become a huntress doesn't derail because of what might happen here." Bo said wryly.

"He has an apprentice? News to me…" The general muttered in surprise.

"Tell me about it. I don't know who she is, either. All I know is that, according to the letter the old perv sent, she's a blonde spitfire of a tomboy who hates dresses and her name with a passion. Can't think of anyone who fits that description, though…" The forger shrugged.

"Neither can I. Then again, Beacon's not my school. Ozpin might know though, you can ask him." Ironwood suggested.

"…I'll think about it," Bo muttered before looking at his friend's eyes and noticed that the man wasn't done. "Anything else you want to talk about?"

"Actually, yes. I want to ask you for a couple favors, if you don't mind." James asked politely.

"Ok. Shoot."

"Thank you," The general smiled with a nod before continuing, "First off, you know about the unveiling of my new line of protection bots, along with the large project that both Azure Armory Inc. and The Schnee Dust Co. assisted me in making. I had little luck getting a member of the Schnee family as a representative, and the majority of your family, including your father, are not able to attend the unveiling either, so I was hoping that you take part in the ceremony, if you don't mind."

"Hmm…" Bo hummed, contemplating on whether or not to accept the offer. After a few brief seconds he shrugged and turned to the general, "I don't see why not, but to be honest, it makes the most sense to have Blanca be the representative. Despite the fact that many believe that my youngest boy is the best choice to inherent AAI, my baby sister is, technically, listed as the one who would take over Dad's company if something happens to him."

"I tried that, but she isn't able to come. Something about planning her son's birthday or something," Ironwood sighed.

"Oh. I forgot that it was almost Cobre's birthday. I better mail my present to him when I get the chance…" The Faunus mused out loud before focusing back to Ironwood, "Alright, I'll do it. I'll even try and bring one of my boys to the event. My youngest needs to learn more about these sorts of things, so I'll try and convince Taiyang to let him come over for the day."

"Thank you, Bo. I appreciate that," The general smiled gratefully, "Now, onto the second favor… I know that you're specialized in weapon repair with some skill in modification and enhancement, but do you still have that hidden talent for…you know…my line of work?"

"My nephew Ray may be the family specialist in that field, but he has a long way to before reaching my level. Ask, Malcom," Bo stated smugly, winking at Ironwood with his left eye before continuing. "I may not have been able to use those skills since the incident with my team, but I'm far from rusty. Why do you ask?"

"I need you to check on something really quick. You are one of the only people I can trust with something like this," Ironwood pleaded, causing the forger to quirk an eyebrow as he placed his glasses back on his face. "You know about our…mutual friend's lifelong project, and I know for a fact that he sent word to you that he managed to accomplish it."

"I've seen said project in action and let me just say, I'm impressed. I bet the man must be very proud about his success." Bo nodded.

"Proud in multiple ways," Ironwood smiled, "Well, he asked me to have you check on said project to see what you think of it personally, since you're one of the only ones in Vale who has some experience in this sort of thing."

"So I'm essentially doing a check-up, eh?" Bo asked curiously before nodding to himself, "I can do that. When do you want me to start?"

"Right now," Ironwood smirked before turning to the door, and not a moment later it opened. From the door was something that Bo wasn't all that surprised to see. He even chuckled at the sight of the newcomer.

"Always wanted to get the job done fast, eh, you old war hawk," Bo said calmly before turning his attention back to the door, "Welcome to Relámpagos Repairs, where we fix anything you broke in the speed of lightning! How can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

-Scattered Symphony-

"D-D-D-Dude…sh-sh-she's a m-monster!" Ash stuttered as he shook off the frost from his body.

"What was your first clue…?" Ren muttered in a daze like tone, his hair sticking out a little and a small electrical current running through his body.

"I warned you guys that she was strong," Weiss grumbled as she rubbed her burnt arm.

"Come on, brats, is that all you've got!? My mom puts up more of a fight than you chumps!" Rita taunted with a wide grin and her arms crossed, looking only slightly roughed up, but no signs of cuts or bleeding anywhere.

It was a good forty minutes since the impromptu match began and the professor could honestly say she was both having fun and quite impressed by the kids before her. She wasted no time using her Dust spells against them, her weaker ones and a few of her intermediate spells for good measure, and she was pleased whenever they got up from the assaults. Their attacks and team combinations were good for a bunch of first years and was pleasantly surprised to see that their impressive teamwork did not stayed limited to their respective teams.

'_These kids are pretty damn good. No wonder why Ozpin likes them so much. Maybe I should just pass them right now…_

…_Nah. I'm having too much fun! Now what else should I do to keep this up?_'

"…I don't like the way she's smiling right now," A tired Jaune muttered as soon as he saw Rita laughing sinisterly before him.

"She's most like thinking of other ways to 'play' with us. It wouldn't surprise me…" Baltazar sighed as he tried to get up, using his sword as a walking stick.

"She's distracted though, so now's a good time to take advantage of it," Pyrrha spoke up softly, looking the best off out of her friends.

"Alright then, my time to shine!" A slightly damp Yang shouted, releasing a burst of fire around her to dry herself off before sprinting off towards the professor.

"Yang, wait!" The remaining members of RWBY shouted, but it was too late.

"HAAA!"

*_BAM!*_

"Ha! Too slow, blondie!" Rita taunted with a teasing grin, now floating in the air through a pair of glyphs on her feet to evade the devastating punch.

"Grr…I hate it when she does that!" Yang growled out, her eyes turning red in frustration before bringing her fists back and began firing at the flying huntress.

Seeing the incoming assault, Rita reached behind her back and pulled out her whip before she began waving it before her, allowing the weapon to destroy the fiery projectiles coming at her. Some did manage to get through her defense, but all it did was singe her clothes and hair slightly for being too close, further infuriating the blonde brawler. With a growl, the young student fired at her feet and propelled herself towards the still levitating huntress, flying right above her with her fist back, ready to strike once more.

With a shout, Yang brought her fist down in an attempt to take down the huntress in one blow. What she wasn't expecting, however, was for said huntress to use her whip to redirect the assault by wrapping it around the fiery fist and change its course, causing the both of them to plummet to the earth. While Yang left a large crater on the ground due to her attack, Rita simply landed softly on the ground, much to the blonde's ire. Frustrated, she got up and began to open fire once more, knowing that the huntress won't be able to fly anymore for a while. Rita, on the other hand, simply brought her whip up and held it out in a blocking positon, much to the confusion of the other students. Yang, on the other hand, smirked at the defensive attempt when she saw the attacks hit home, creating a small cloud of smoke where Rita was standing. As the smoke cleared, the blonde's eyes went wide and mouth became agape, utterly shocked by the sight before her.

"Whew! That's some power you got there, blondie. It even damaged me a bit despite the fact that I have my barrier up!" Rita said cheerfully, a large blue orb surrounding her body and her whip giving off a blue glow itself. There were black spots on the barrier, indicating where Yang's attacks hit, and Rita herself looked a little ruffled, but far from being down for the count.

"…What the heck! You even have a freaking barrier too!? That's just cheap right there, and I know cheap tactics! I've been partner with two ninjas, the poster children of cheapness!" Yang shouted angrily.

"…She's not wrong. We're not above using cheap tricks and low blows to obtain victory." Blake admitted with a shrug.

"Low blows are the way to go…" Baltazar said softly with a chuckle.

"See!" The blonde shouted once more to emphasize her point.

"Oh relax, blondie. Didn't I just say you managed to actually hurt me a little? This barrier doesn't completely protect me from harm, it only reduces the damage that I take from projectile attacks. Not only that, you kept me moving and forced me to use Uroboros instead of my Mana Channels! That's something that most kids your age wouldn't be able to accomplish! Props to you!" Rita stated as she lowered her whip, causing the barrier to disappear.

"Don't patronize me! You're still holding back and we know it!" Yang yelled with a fist in the air.

"Well, yeah, of course I am. Do you honestly think I'd use my upper level skills on a bunch of newbies like you lot? Seriously, you'd wouldn't last one second if I'd use my Meteor Shower spell or my Diffusion Strike. Heck, I doubt there'd be any of you left if I released my inhibitors on my charms and use my best spells… I remember this one time when I got so pissed at my old friend Slate and-"

"Enough with the rambling, already! We know you're strong, so show us your stuff so we can kick it out of the park!" Yang shouted once more, not at all noticing that the ground below her was glowing slightly.

"Yang, stay calm! Getting angry is what she wants you to do! You need to pay attention!" Levy shouted out.

"I'm at my best when I'm mad! No way I'm saying calm against her!" The brawler shouted, turning her head towards the medic to give her a fierce, red-eyed glare.

"Rule number one when fighting, blondie: never take your eyes off your foe," An amused voice stated from behind Yang, causing her to stiffen in surprise.

"Huh?" The brawler grunted in surprise, and turned her head in horror to see Rita right behind her, crouched down right near her butt with her fingers together in a familiar, and very frightful, position, with sparks emanating from them, no less.

"Crap, I gotta move!" She hissed before attempting to run, but found herself unable to move her legs. "What the…? Why can't I move my legs!?" Frustrated, she looked down, and gasped in horror as she realized what got her stuck.

"What the… Where did these vines come from!?"

"Rule number two: Always be aware of your surroundings!" Rita stated once more, "I initiated my Ivy Bind spell during my rant and you're temper caused you to miss the glow beneath your feet, one of my most obvious indications of my techniques at work. I don't normally use this technique, but I'm willing to have fun with it in this case."

"Shoot! Gotta get free! Gotta get free! Gotta get free!" Yang changed frantically in a hopeless attempt to escape, only to wince as the sharp vines began cutting her legs.

"Uh oh…I can see where this is going…" Blake muttered with a wince.

"We have to help her!" Ruby screamed.

"We can't! The vines are too close to her legs! We can't hit them without the risk of crippling her!" Dia shouted back, her eyes glowing dark green as an indication that her semblance was active.

"So what can we do now?!" Nora asked fearfully.

"Nothing, kids. Pay attention to this next lesson, or else what will happen to her will happen to you all!" Rita cackled before turning back to the now deathly afraid Yang. "Rule number three: _Never_ let your opponent get behind you…"

"Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man!"

"Forjador City's Secret Finger Technique…"

"Ah crap! This is gonna-"

*_Poke!*_

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

"A THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH!"

"Wow… Look at her go…" Nora said in amazement as she and the others watch Yang fly above them, holding her behind in pain, before crashing down into the seats of the arena.

"Oh Lord Monty… Are we going to suffer the same fate?" Jaune whimpered.

"Not if I can help it," Pyrrha assured before sprinting off herself to face the huntress.

"Hmm… Going against me one on one, this time, eh? Let's see how this turns out," Rita mused before jumping back to avoid a swipe from the regional champ's javelin.

Thinking quickly, the redhead turned her weapon into its rifle form and open fire at the huntress, hoping to damage her with her bullets. What she wasn't expecting, however, was a slab of stone to suddenly rise up from the ground before the huntress just as she landed and protect her from the assault. Growling a little in frustration, Pyrrha sprinted towards the rock and jumped over it, putting her shield up just in time to block an incoming strike from Rita's whip. Lowering her shield, the redhead's eyes went wide for a brief moment before sprinting to the side to avoid a small volley of fireballs aimed at her.

Doing a quick roll, Pyrrha aimed her rifle at Rita again and was prepared to open fire. Rita, on the other hand, simply grabbed the book that was hanging behind her waist and opened it to a seemingly random spot right in front of the student. Much to Pyrrha's surprise, however, a flurry of pages began flying out of the book and headed towards her. Having no other choice, she brought her shield up to block the deceivingly wasteful assault. It turned out to be the right thing to do, since some of the pages had actually embedded themselves into her shield. Lowering her protection and quickly removing the razor sharp paper, Pyrrha faced her opponent once more, and immediately brought her guard up as soon as she saw a gold colored glyph appearing below the older huntress's feet.

Seeing the fierce, yet cautious expression on the young star student's face, Rita let off another amused smirk as the symbol beneath her feet began to glow brighter. Seeing that, the huntress sent her right arm front, the bracelets on both her arms glowing the same color as the glyph, and appeared to visibly push her glyph forward towards her opponent. Seeing it coming, Pyrrha got up to her feet and jumped away from the glyph just as it reached her old spot, but what she wasn't expecting was for it to expand to about twice its size and catching her within its boundaries. Not a moment later, a pillar of energy came out of the glyph, ensnaring the young redhead and actually suspending her in midair, much to her surprise. What was odd about the energy surrounding the amazon was that it felt familiar to her, and after a few seconds of thinking, she realized what it was.

"Is this…magnetism?"

"That's right," Rita grinned. "That is what I like to call my Tractor Beam, which traps a single foe in a magnetic field, suspending them in air and leaving them unable to attack. Even those with the Polarity Semblance are helpless against it. It only lasts for a few seconds and uses up a large chunk of my special Lightning Dust, but it's more than enough to land a few hits with my book!"

With that, the young huntress took out her book again and leafed and held it in front of the red haired champ. Just as she was about to open it, however, it was blasted off her hand. Surprised by the attack, Rita turned to where her book landed, and quirked an eyebrow when she saw her book didn't have any holes in it.

It was drenched, as if it was it by one of her water spells. She only knew one person amongst the group who would use water as an attack

"Good shot, Levy. Now she won't be able to launch her razor pages again…" A familiar voice reached her ears, and the huntress turned to see the others now beside the kid she was fighting, who was now out of her trap, and quirked an eyebrow when she saw her little sister had her gun pointed at her.

"Wow…to think my little sister's actually pointing her weapon at me. I'm both impressed and surprised." Rita commented with a grin.

"I was the one who asked her to do it. She wouldn't have fired if I hadn't made her. Plus it helps that I told her to use the water bomb rounds I developed for her." Baltazar said calmly, his electric blue eyes staring blankly at his elder cousin.

"Well, well, look at that take charge attitude. To think that the frail looking son of Teach would end up being the leader of his own huntsman team. Good on ya, Stripes," Rita complemented with a nod.

"Thanks, Rita. Now, if you don't mind, I got a question to ask you…" The ninja asked curiously as he sheathed his sword, sparking the huntress's curiosity.

"Sure, Stripes. Ask away." Rita complied.

"…How do you feel about requiems?" The ninja asked politely as he opened the case on his side and brought out a metal rod, before it expanded to the sides and multiple attachments appeared on it, causing it to become a western style flute.

"Requiems? Not that big into them. Too depressing for my taste…" The huntress confessed.

"Pity, because I was about to play a little tune that I'm sure you'll like…" Baltazar said softly as he brought the instrument to his face.

"Well don't let me stop ya, go ahead and play. Just remember that you're in a time limit, and I won't be stopping just to hear you perform." Rita grinned as she brought her whip out once more.

"That's all I ask…" Baltazar muttered before closing his eyes and began playing a soft tune that caused Ruby and Yang's eyes to immediately go wide.

"Yang…this is…" Ruby whispered in excitement.

"Yup. It's your song, Ruby. Red like Roses. He played it for you after you came back from visiting Mom. Glad to know he still remembers it." Yang mumbled back with a small smile.

"Huh… That piece is bringing out a lot of feels with those two. Must be a song that's close to their heart…" Rita muttered as a dark yellow glyph appeared below her.

As the song continued, the huntress adopted a curious expression when she saw what looked like blue rose petals floating around in a similar manner to the red rose petals she saw flying around the youngest of the students. Despite being curious, she didn't let her guard down, and proceeded to create another glyph below the performing ninja's feet. Just as the glyph was about to activate, the ninja stopped playing, and muttered something that Rita couldn't help but frown in confusion over.

"May the Rose's Requiem…grant thee the gift…of evading thy foes…"

As soon as those words were said, the ninja vanished, just as a set of stones erupted from where he was standing. Going wide eyed for a moment, Rita immediately calmed down to think for a brief moment before suddenly ducking, just in time to avoid being decapitated. Jumping forward, the huntress looked back to see the ninja that avoided her attack standing right where she was, a small swirl of blue petals surrounding his feet. Not only that, but she was also hearing a more instrumental version of the piece he was playing coming out of the flute he was holding, which was now another katana. Grinning widely, Rita put her palm up and released another volley of stones underneath Baltazar's feet, who simply jumped away, evading the stones once more before rushing towards her. Undaunted, the huntress created another glyph, this time a pale green colored one, and brought out her whip again and launched it at her cousin's head, who quickly tilted his head away to avoid getting hit. The ninja then suddenly began sidestepping left and right, barely avoiding the multitude of vines that were popping out of the ground.

The ninja was getting closer to the professor, and was still narrowly evading the rapidly growing vines, something that would normally be very difficult for him if it wasn't for the agility boost from his sword. As he grew closer, Baltazar drew his arm back in preparation to strike, but just as he was about to reach her, something happened that he was severely hoping wouldn't happen until later.

The music coming from his sword stopped, and the rose petals around his legs vanished, just as another vine appeared below him. He sidestepped again, hoping to not get ensnared like Yang, but found himself caught in another vine that popped up, and was now unable to move from his position. Frustrated, the ninja gripped his sword and proceeded to cut up his restraints, but frowned when he noticed that his slashes were not doing much damage.

"Good luck getting out of those things, Stripes. They're highly cut resistant, meaning it's going to take more than just your musical sword to get free," Rita taunted, a hand in front of her and a large ice-blue glyph in front of her, "But I will congratulate you for depleting my Earth Dust reserves. It's not easy making all those vines pop up so quickly. No more earth based skills from me for a while, but that doesn't mean I'm done, though."

Cursing at himself for falling into a trap and at the incoming attack, Baltazar reached for his weapons pouch behind him and pulled out a folded Fuma Shuriken. Opening the giant star-shaped projectile, the ninja grunted slightly and activated the Dust in the shuriken, causing it to glow blue and emit electric sparks. With a fierce glare, the ninja tossed his weapon at the still huntress, hoping to at least stun her even if it missed. Sadly, the huntress didn't want to deal with a flying star knife, and brought out her whip once more and deflected the large projectile towards the wall, where it exploded in a burst of electricity.

Letting off a frustrated sigh, he brought out a red tinted kunai and slammed it into the ground, much to his opponent's surprise. A moment later the knife exploded in a burst of fire, surprising the huntress as she saw her vines being burnt off from her cousin's legs…and that her cousin's legs were also being fried. As soon as the vines were gone, the ninja sprinted off once more, but stumbled with a wince as he felt the burns aching his legs.

"Ok…that was both really brave and really stupid of you, Stripes. I know you're quite tough, despite what your relatives in Teach's family say, but frying your legs was not the best thing to do. With your movements limited, how do you hope to reach me?" Rita asked with a mildly unamused tone.

"…Who said I wanted to reach you?" Baltazar muttered with a small smirk as he casted his eyes to where Pyrrha was resting.

Rita followed his gaze, and her eyes went wide when she noticed that the only one that was with the redhead was Yang. Cursing to herself, she closed her eyes briefly to try and detect where the others were located. With a soft grunt of annoyance, she turned around and activated the glyph in her palm, firing a barrage of icicles at the now revealed Ruby, Weiss and Blake, who were to reach to her. The trio evaded the attack though their speed, glyphs and shadows respectively, and ended up scattering after being found out. The huntress let off a small sigh before jumping high into the air, just in time to evade Jaune trying to bash into him with his shield before pelting him in the back with a fireball. Chuckling at the attempt, she landed gracefully on the ground and ducked quickly to avoid Ren's swipes with his bladed guns. Fire formed in her hands, and Rita grinned wide when she held one palm at Ren's torso and another palm behind her, where Nora was seen in the air and ready to smash the huntress into the ground. Sadly, it was not to be, as Rita unleashed her flames at the pair. Ren quickly moved away from the attack, and was only slightly singed for being too close. Nora, on the other hand, ended up being struck with multiple flames and ended up flying off to where Ruby was standing and crashed into her.

Satisfied, Rita began dusting herself off lightly and immediately brought her whip up just in time to deflect an arrow aimed at her. With an amused smile, she turned to Dia, who glared back at her with her fierce green eyes. Chuckling in amusement, the huntress created another glyph below her feet, but was forced to deactivate it when she saw both Levy and Ash rushing at her. Grabbing her whip once more, Rita quickly launched it at her opponents. The pair jumped away from each other to avoid getting hit, but both were surprised to see the weapon wrap around Levy's waist, and neither were prepared when Rita, with a surprising show if strength, lifted her sister off the ground and right into Ash, causing the both of them to stumble and land right near Dia's feet, who was surprised that the huntress was willing to use her own sister as a weapon.

"Well, kids, I have to say, this was fun. You guys are pretty good for a bunch of first years. Not even the kids back at Ironwood's school have more talent than you lot have. Congrats, kids, you've impressed me." Rita grinned before reaching into one of her breast pockets and took out what looked like a small canister of pills, much to her opponents' confusion. "However, just because you've impressed me, doesn't mean that the fun's over. I still have one trick I want to use on you all, and I think it's high time to pull it off…"

With that, the huntress opened the canister and popped a pill into her mouth, further confusing the students, before tucking her hands together to her right side and formed a small, aqua blue glyph below her feet. As soon as the glyph formed, all the students began to feel something off about the air around them.

"Hey…doesn't the air feel a little…I dunno…cool?" Nora asked curiously.

"It does… It kind of feels like we're close to the ocean. Like the docks…" Ruby said.

"Ocean…?" Baltazar repeated quietly before turning to Rita and paled drastically. "Oh boy…this won't end well…"

"What's going on, Chief?" Dia asked worriedly.

"Nothing much, kids! Just your typical late morning tidal wave coming at ya!" Rita announced before spreading her arms apart, her bracelets, choker and anklets glowing blue, causing the glyph below her to expand and encompass not only her, but the entirety of the battleground. Then, a watery hell broke loose.

Without warning, a massive wave of water suddenly appeared, catching all the students within its grasp and began spinning around like a large whirlpool. The students were helpless to counter it, and none were able to find a way to stop the rampaging water. Rita was the only one who wasn't affected by the tide, but a light green hue did grace her features. She was also noticeably paler than earlier, something that the students would've notice and taken advantage of if it wasn't for their predicament.

"Crap…still can't get over this damn sickness." Rita grumbled irritably, a hand over her stomach as she tried hard not to vomit. "I guess the pills aren't as strong as they used to be. Either that or I'm building a tolerance towards them. It's a good thing this spell only lasts for a few seconds, otherwise I'd be sick for a week."

As soon as that sentence escaped her mouth, the water began to slow down and dissipate into the ground. A few seconds later, the water vanished, leaving a drenched arena and a group of dizzy and very wet group of students wondering what just happened.

"…Did we just went through a spin cycle in a washing machine?" Yang asked in a daze tone, her eyes spinning and stars and studs in speedos running around her head.

"LeT's Go AgAiN! LeT's Go AgAiN!" Nora cheered deliriously, spinning on her toes with a finger in the air before collapsing onto the ground.

"Ugh…I don't feel so good…" Baltazar mumbled, his feet not hurting him anymore, but now sported a very sickly expression, as if he was about to throw up any minute.

"Rita…?" Weiss spoke up with a groan. "Please tell me that we're done. I don't think any of us can take this abuse anymore…"

"Yeah… I probably should've thought this through instead of using up the rest of my Water Dust for that spell…" Rita muttered in a mildly apologetic tone. "Sorry, guys. I think I went a little overboard here. How about we call it a day eh? Like I said, you've impressed me quite a bit. Keep up the good work and you won't have any trouble dealing with anything that comes your way…"

With a pause, the young huntress turned her attention to team RWBY and let out a soft smirk, "Including people like Roman and the White Fang."

"…You know?" Blake groaned tiredly while everyone else looked at the elder woman in surprise.

"I was trained under a master of intel gathering. You kids have a lot to learn to pull any wool over my eyes." Rita chuckled, looking much better now than earlier. "Just so you know, I won't tell anyone. I'm actually quite pleased with your initiative. If you kids need any help, let me know. If not, then I wish you girls luck in your adventure. Something tells me you're gonna need it."

The three teams looked at the huntress with various expressions. None of them were expecting her to be aware of team RWBY's plan, nor were they expecting her to be so supportive of them either. Confusion was prevalent in their minds, but despite that, they were happy that they were going to be dealing with less interference when it was time to execute the plan…as soon as they actually form one of course.

"Rita…? What are you talking about?" Levy asked tiredly, the only one among the group that didn't know about the plan, much to the guilt of her friends.

"It's nothing, Lala. You'll find out later…" Rita assured while patting her wet sister's head. "So…now that that little bout of fun is over, how about we head to the cafeteria for some food. I hear that they're serving some awesome Mistralian seafood right now and I've been dying to-"

"_BLEH!_"

"Oh… Right… I forgot Stripes can't handle water either…" The huntress muttered uncomfortably as soon as she saw her vomiting cousin.

"I'm surprised that you yourself are willing to perform such a technique despite knowing that it'll affect you badly as well," Pyrrha spoke up.

"It's a bit of an ace of mine. Most people know I get seasick easy, so they're not prepared whenever I bring out my Tidal Wave spell, but it does leave me really woozy after I do it, even with the medicine I take…" Rita explained.

"Looks like someone's going to take Balto to the infirmary again. Levy's semblance doesn't work on illnesses, so she won't be able to help. That, and toasting his legs is definitely something that should be looked on." Ash suggested, unaware of Levy's uncomfortable expression when told that she couldn't do anything against illnesses.

"I'll take him. It's my turn to haul his butt to the nurse's office anyway," Yang offered as she walked up to the sickly ninja and hoisted him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, his upper body slumped over the blonde's body and his head lightly touching her chest, much to the ire of a certain heiress.

"Yang…? What do you mean it's your turn to take him to the infirmary?" Weiss asked in barely contained jealousy.

"Simple; I took him first when he got sick making three weapons at once in the course of a weekend, you took him after he was shot and blown up by Pyrrha and Nora for delivering their orders, so now it's my turn." Yang explained as she gently patted the groaning ninja's head. "Besides I've dealt with his seasickness before, so I know what to do when he's like this. No need to be jealous, Weiss. I'll take good care of him."

"…Fine. I trust you. Just make sure he gets better soon, ok. We have a lot of plans to make and we have no time to waist." Weiss relented with a sigh.

"Not to worry, Nievita. He'll be fine," Yang assured with a grin before turning to her semi-unconscious friend with a dark tone, "But if you puke on me, I will finish what you started and fry the rest of your legs and your body, got it?"

"G-Got it…geh…" The ninja groaned.

"Good!" The blonde chirped before turning to the others. "Welp, I'm off to take this guy to get checked up. Catch you all later!"

With that, Yang sauntered off towards the exit and out of the arena, waving goodbye to all her friends. Seeing the sight caused Rita to chuckle slightly, catching everyone's attention.

"Well…sucks that he had to take him. I was hoping he could give me the details on that musical weapon of his. I wasn't expecting it to boost his agility. He would've been able to actually land a scratch on me if it didn't run out when it did." The huntress said with a small smile.

"You can always ask him when he recovers. But I think you should know that the weapon he used is still not finished yet. He just wanted to use you as a test subject for it…" Dia spoke up, causing Rita to chuckle once more.

"Ah…I see. Payback for having him being my test subject for most of my experiments. Heh, that explains a lot…" Rita chuckled before turning to the exit. "Alright, kids, let's go! There's a ton of free food with my name on it and I will not wait any longer!"

With that, the huntress dashed out of the arena and towards the cafeteria, leaving a group of stunned and confused students behind.

"…Levy, your family is weird…" Jaune muttered while shaking his head.

"Makes me wonder what the rest of her family looks and acts like…" Ren joked dryly.

"You want to know what my family looks like?" Levy repeated curiously. "Why didn't you say so? I have a picture with me that Abuelita gave me that had all of her and Abuelito's children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren at the time. I think it was the only time all of us were together…"

After saying that, Levy reached into her weapons pouch and pulled out a surprisingly dry picture to show her friends. Everyone, except for Ruby and Weiss, huddled around the medic to see the image, and gape at what they saw.

"Holy crap, are all of these people directly related to you!?" Ash cried out in shock.

"There's gotta be, like, five dozen people here!" Nora exclaimed.

"There's quite a few people holding pictures as well. They must be relatives that have passed on…" Blake muttered as soon as she saw the photos within the photo.

"Uh huh. Abuelita and Abuelito had a total of fifteen kids, three boys and twelve girls, throughout their marriage, and almost all of them had kids, with the older ones eventually having kids of their own. My Papi is the youngest of the guys, but still a good few years older than _Tía_ Leti, who's the youngest of the kids. If I remember right, this was taken not long after Cera was born, making her the youngest of us cousins of the Morado family…" Levy explained fondly as she gently held the picture.

"Hey, this doesn't look like it was taken at Vale. The area looks too dry." Dia pointed out.

"That's right. We had this photo taken at Vacuo. It's where the Morado family originated from. I'm technically half Vacuan myself because of that." The medic confirmed.

"You're of Vacuan decent? Huh… I never would've guessed." Pyrrha mused.

As the small group of eight continued to talk, Weiss simply decided to walk over to Ruby, who had hardly moved from her spot since the tidal assault, and decided to talk to her.

"Hey Ruby, how come you're not interested in seeing Levy's family portrait?" The heiress asked.

"I've seen it already. Cody showed me his copy last year, and it really surprised me." Ruby admitted with a giggle.

"Try being there when the photo was actually taken. You can't imagine how surprised I was to see so many different people that were directly related to my best friends. It was quite the shock." Weiss laughed back.

"You went to Vacuo?" Ruby asked.

"I had to. I was still under Uncle Bo's watch at the time and Dad was too busy to take me back…" Weiss explained, her voice growing softer at the mention of her father.

"Hmm…I see…" Ruby nodded, taking note of her partner's mood and decided to change the subject. "So…Are you happy that we won't have to worry about Rita stopping us from finding out the White Fang's plans?"

"It'll make things easier, yes. First though, we have to come up with a plan. Think you can handle that?" Weiss stated with a smirk, causing Ruby to smirk back.

"Of course! You can count on me! I am a master planner!" The young leader grinned before adopting a curious expression. "By the way…how do you think Rita figure out that we're planning to figure out what the White Fang are up to? None of us said anything to anyone last night…"

"Hmm… I'm not sure. Despite her more straightforward approach on things, she does know a lot about intelligence gathering… " The heiress guessed.

"Maybe Charcoal told her. He did disappear when you grabbed Baltazar last night. He probably heard everything and told her…" Ruby pointed out.

"It wouldn't surprise me, to be honest. Charcoal and Horchata are brothers, so I doubt they'll keep secrets from each other." Weiss nodded. "In any case, it's nothing to worry about now. Even with her knowing, she won't interfere. I may say a lot of negative things about her, but she's a loyal huntress who is true to her word. If she won't say anything, then we'll be fine."

"Awesome! I can't believe we have an actual huntress on our side who'll cover for us! Now no one can stop us when we execute our plan!" Ruby admitted.

"That's right. Now, how about you gather the others and we head to the cafeteria. Mistralian seafood is said to be quite divine," Weiss smiled.

"Yes, ma'am!" Ruby giggled, causing Weiss to laugh a little herself, before the young leader skipped to the others.

As she left, the young heiress let off a small frown and a quiet sigh. With a conflicted expression, she turned her gaze at the exit, where Yang and Baltazar left. Shaking her head, she went to her friends to join them for lunch, a final thought crossing her mind as she walked towards them.

'_I hope Baltazar ok… Yang better take care of him. Water skills such as the one Rita used makes really him sick._

…_I also hope he doesn't puke on her either. I doubt he'd survive her fury if that happens._'

-With Yang and Baltazar-

"So…when are you going to tell me you told your older cousin about our plans with the White Fang?" Yang ask casually to the seemingly unconscious ninja on her shoulder, expertly ignoring the odd stares they were getting from their classmates.

"…Heh, what makes you say that." Baltazar muttered tiredly, a slightly amused smile on his face.

"It makes sense. Other than Levy, you were the only one who had contact with her. You admitted to that much when she said she messaged you to do a wardrobe change." The blonde said with a smirk.

"Well… Sorry to say this, Detective Flare, but you got it wrong. I wasn't telling her about the plan, I was telling her to not tell anyone else about it." The Faunus chuckled, making his carrier quirk an eyebrow. "Charcoal was the one who told her through Horchata, and in turn messaged me for details and confirmation. I didn't tell her anything she didn't already know, but I did make a deal with her to ensure that she won't say anything…"

"That's right… The little guy was with us when we started talking about this. Even when he left, he made sure to listen in on what we were saying, just like he was taught…" Yang summarized as she paused her strides to set her friend down, who still had trouble standing and ended up leaning on her for support.

"That's right. Thankfully, though, he only told Horchata and Rita. He won't say anything to Pop so long as he gets in on the action. You know he's a bit of a thrill seeker," Baltazar mumbled in amusement.

"Hahaha! No argument there!" Yang grinned. "So…what was the deal you made with your scary older cousin to keep her mouth shut?"

"Oddly enough, she wanted Gentle Storms, my battle gauntlets," The sickly ninja said while gesturing to his water-logged weapons, much to his friend's surprise, "She allowed me to use them for today, but as soon as I get them fixed up, they're all hers."

"…You gave up your weapons to make sure we don't have any trouble with our plans?" The brawler whispered in shock.

"Eh, I've been focusing on my swordplay more often than not lately and I've been working on a backup pair of gloves just in case something like this happens. They're not done yet and won't be as advanced as Gentle Storms when they're finished, but they'll be a good substitute after everything's all set and done…" Baltazar shrugged, not seeing anything wrong with his decision.

"…You are too self-sacrificial sometimes, you know that?" Yang chuckled, tightening her hold on her friend for an impromptu hug. "Thanks for the help, Sparky. I mean it."

"No worries, Flare. Just doing my best to ensure the safety of my friends. Just promise me you'll protect everyone to the best of your abili-_hurk!_" Baltazar smiled with a thumbs up before rushing his hand to his mouth.

"Oh boy, sounds like we need to get you to the nurse's office stat," Yang muttered, grimacing at the sight of her sick friend.

"Hold up… I have to tell you something…" Baltazar spoke up softly, his voice slightly strained, "You have to stop at my dad's shop after you drop me off. It's important"

"Huh? Why would I do that?" Yang asked.

"Your order came…"

"What?"

"Remember those custom parts and special ammunition that you ordered after that little fiasco at my family's company?" Baltazar questioned, getting a confused nod in response. "Well, they're finished. It took a while to find and make everything, but it's done. As soon as you make those modifications to Ember Celica, you'll be able to pull off Sunrise Strike more often with less strain to yourself and less drain to your aura."

"Really!? You serious?!" Yang asked excitedly.

"Yup. And just in time, too. If you get your gauntlets all fixed up before you face the White Fang, you'll have no problem dealing with them. You just need to stop by Relámpagos Repairs later to get them and-WHOA!"

"KYAHAHA! Why didn't you say so sooner, Sparky!? Now I can murder Grimm with more power and destruction than normal!" Yang laughed cheerfully, now carrying her friend like a sack of potatoes once more, and began sprinting towards the docking bays. "Alright! Onward to the depths of the Lightning Beast's Workshop! My wish to punch my foes to the moon to protect my baby sister will not be denied!"

"Wh-Wh-What about th-th- the nurse's office!" Baltazar cried out, now getting even woozier due to being carried by the energetic blonde at high speeds.

"Forget your health! My girls need some attention! Besides, all you have is an upset stomach from the rinse cycle! It'll pass!" Yang chirped, causing Baltazar to stare at her in with a deadpan expression, a familiar green hue on his face.

"If I puke or pass out on the plane, I'm blaming you."

"Ah, you're just jealous that I'm the one who's getting the _sick_ new upgrade this time!"

"…I hate you so much, Flare."

"Love ya too, Sparky!"

Author's note:

Writer's Block sucks… A lot… I was hoping to get the third chapter of Hymn of Reminiscence finished before this, but apparently my muse wants me to end this arc first before anything. Ah well. In any case, I hope you guys liked the chapter. I'll be honest, I don't think it's my best work. It was really hard to get it written how I wanted it, especially towards the end. If it sucks, then I won't blame you guys. If you actually liked it, then there might be some hope for me! Probably! Now, I hope I did my best to portray Rita's strength in this chapter. Her powers will be more prominent in later chapters, but I hope I didn't make her sound too OP in this chapter. I know most writers out there try to make their own OCs be the best out there or make the canon characters incredibly strong, but I want to put in some realism in my story. Just a smidge, of course. It is a fantasy world after all. In any case, I think it's perfectly reasonable for Rita to beat the students the way she did. More experienced hunters such as Glynda and Ozpin will be able to beat her, but a bunch of first year students will not last for very long against her, even if those students are top class…at least most of them. Rita herself is also a prodigy just like Pyrrha, so really, the others were in for a tough match from the get go.

I also took the liberty to do some changes to some of my character's wardrobe, giving them alternate clothing similar to RWBY, starting off with my first OC. His design now resembles the typical attire for most jounin, elite ninjas, from the Naruto-verse. It's only a partial design, though, because his new clothes is still missing another piece to complete the ensemble. With it, he'll resemble more like a certain character in the Naruto-verse, but only in clothing. I also decided to let you guys get a taste of what Lightning Hymn is capable of at this point. It's still not finished yet, but it does provide a bit of a boost when the situation calls for it. Because of his further advancement of his sword, I decided it would be best to get rid of the Gentle Storms from him in order to balance him out a little more. I try my hardest to not make my OCs too overpowered, so I hope I'm accomplishing that.

Now then, with the Introduction Arc completed, I would normally get going and start with the next arc, Crossing Paths, but I'm planning on waiting to start that. Since it is, technically, a crossover arc, I'm going to need to consult with a few people to get it ready. Until then, though, I will hopefully get more chapters of Hymn of Reminiscence out along with something else I want to upload. Expect a double story update happening sometime early next week, will be chapter 3 of Hymn of Reminiscence, while the other will be a special interlude that'll take place shortly after this chapter. Hopefully I'll get them done before my self-designated timeframe…

One more thing! I took the liberty to update my character Bios and added in another excerpt about my OCs to replace the old one. Please read them while you have the chance. As always, my faithful readers, thank you all so much for reading and have a great day.


	4. Through the Eyes of the Lotus

Hey guys, sorry it's been a while. This is Black Fuego here with a special chapter of Scattered Symphony. I intended to get it uploaded sooner, but it took me a while to find a good flow for this story. As you might have guessed, this is a tribute chapter to Monty Oum. May you rest in peace, good sir… I also used this as an opportunity to try out a new perspective in writing. I hope it's too your liking everyone. I went through quite a few ideas when writing this and even now, I can still think of many other ways for this chapter to go. I settled with this though, and I sincerely hope that it is enjoyable for you all. As always, thank you all so much for reading my works and enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own the RWBY series nor any other franchise that may be referenced in this story. I do wish to own more RWBY merchandise though, but I still need to save up a little more so that I can buy them without feeling like I might go broke very soon. I want that the RWBY soccer scarf…

The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR: Scattered Symphony.

Chapter 4/Special Tribute: Through the Eyes of the Lotus

Sleep…such a wonderful thing. It keeps us energize, sends us to various worlds through the process of dreams. It was even possible to be reunited with loved ones that had long since passed, according to Ruby. I'm inclined to believe her, though. Imaginative as she is, she isn't one to make up something as important to her as reuniting with someone precious to you. As I said, sleep is a wonderful thing.

However, as the old saying goes, you can have too much of a good thing. Sleeping for too long will inevitably make you tired for a long time. Sleeping on the job will also get you in serious trouble as well, especially if you're in the same line of work I'm planning on entering. And don't get me started on nightmares. Many of them are quite scary, but some of them can be quite strange. For example, I had a strange and terrifying nightmare that ended in me being buried in a mountain of pancakes and nearly drowned in a sea of syrup. Easily the oddest nightmare I had. And don't get me started on the one with the haunted animatronics. There was also the one with the mutant carrots and weird turtle things that were throwing spiked balls at us while riding clouds of all things.

And for some reason, Jaune was dressed as a plumber, Nora was some sort of cloud being, I was a puppet in a blue cape and Pyrrha was a princess in pink.

…

Note to self: Stop eating Jaune's special Supreme Arc Pizza before bed.

In any case, sleep is good, but it does have its downsides, just like all things in our world. That is why we have to do such pleasurable things in moderation, even if we don't want to. I myself would simply love to laze around and sleep for a whole day, but I cannot. I have classes to attend, tests to take, food to eat, and friends to socialize. Usually, though, it takes me a while for me to get up, especially if I just came out of a very grueling spar like the one my friends and I end up participating in a while back.

Thankfully though, I have what I believe to be, in my humble opinion, one of the best alarm clocks in the world.

"~OH REEEEEN!~ RISE AND SHINE, SLEEPY HEAD!"

And also the loudest. But I'm used to her loudness already. We've been together for a long time now, and it was only recently that we became 'together' together, in her words. A lot of her antics that would normally infuriate most people I find endearing to be honest.

Her being my personal alarm clock, though… While I appreciate the effort, I'd prefer if she was a bit quieter when waking me up. What if our teammates were still asleep?

"Is he going to wake up soon? Breakfast is going to end in a half hour."

"Don't worry, Jaune. I'm sure he'll wake up any second now."

…Well there goes that possibility. Might as well wake up and get the day rolling.

"Hmmm… Morning everyone," I mumbled as I got up from bed, feeling better than I have been these past few days. I've been feeling off lately for some reason, but now I'm much better, especially compared to a couple days ago…

"Morning Ren!" Nora chirped, sitting on my bed and proceeded to give me a peck on the cheek, which I happily returned.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of the woken, Ren," Pyrrha said in a mildly teasing tone, a kind smile on her face. I always did liked her friendly and helpful attitude towards others. Makes her more than what the news and magazines recalling her exploits cover. Also have to give her points for alliteration.

"We thought you were going to sleep through breakfast again." Jaune joked with a grin, and I couldn't help but chuckle at his point. I did indeed slept through breakfast a few times since the year started, but I've gotten better somewhat.

"Well, I can't let that happen all the time. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day…" I stated as I got up to fix my bed. As soon as I finished, Nora came to me with my school uniform and handed it to me. Smiling gratefully to her, I began putting them on while I turned to my leader curiously.

"Are the others awake yet?" I asked.

"They are. Ruby used her whistle again and I saw Ash get slammed out of the room again for waking his team up with an air horn," Jaune explained, causing Pyrrha to giggle in what I can accurately assume to be her recalling said incident.

"Really? You'd think they'd learn by now," I muttered in an amused tone as I fixed my tie.

It was true. Those two used those tools to wake their teammates up often and it rarely ends well for them, especially Ash. Despite that, the crimson duo continued with their waking tactics to this day, and even had to replace their tools every now and again.

It's times like this where I'm glad Nora doesn't resort to such tactics.

"Well then, since the others are surely awake, it's best we left. If I recall, today's Pancake Wednesday…"

"PANCAKES!"

Jaune, Pyrrha and I couldn't help but laugh at Nora's love for her favorite breakfast meal. I can understand why she likes them so much, and I do enjoy making them as well. Whoever coined in the idea of Pancake Wednesday has my thanks for making Nora's day.

…And save me money on pancake mix and syrup.

After our quick laugh we left our room, and were introduced to the sight of Ash sprawled next to our door with a dazed expression and a small blood trail on the wall that most likely came from his head.

This is probably the third time this month we've seen him like this. He never learns.

"Hey, Ash. Who was it this time?" Jaune asked, and I couldn't help but smirk at the amused tone in his voice.

"Dee…" I heard the infuriating redhead groan before dropping his head, signifying his unconsciousness. It made sense. His partner always did have a short temper, and having been woken up by the sound of an air horn would've definitely peeved her enough to chuck him out the door.

"At least it wasn't Balty this time. He would've electrified you before shoving you head first through the door… Like last week!" Nora exclaimed.

I remember that incident. We just came back from our group trip and the guys and I, along with Ruby and Blake, did not have the best of nights due to certain circumstances that I'd prefer not to divulge. Ash was still pretty wired despite the less than ideal night and wound up keeping his team up, which resulted in him getting shocked and slammed literally into the door by his really irritated leader, knocked him unconscious, and left him hanging there for the rest of the night.

I wished he stayed stuck though. He'd make a good coat hanger.

"*_Yawn*_ Morning, guys…" A tired voice greeted from behind us and we turned around to see a group of somewhat drowsy girls coming out of their rooms, all of them looking a little frazzled and one in particular looking quite sheepish.

"Good Morning Team RWBY!" Nora greeted back, which caused Blake to flinch.

"Nora…not so loud please. Ruby's wakeup call is still making my ears ring a little…" Our feline friend grumbled, to which I nodded in sympathy. Faunus generally have sensitive hearing, and Blake in particular has it even better because of her cat ears. That does, however, leave her more prone to being surprised by loud noises when she is unaware.

"I said I was sorry," The young leader apologized.

"Sorry doesn't fix what you did to us, Ruby. I told you to not wake us up with that infernal whistle of yours anymore, and now you'll have to deal with the consequences." Weiss stated in an irritated tone.

"No! Please! I'll do anything, but don't take them away from me!" Ruby pleaded.

"Sorry, Sis, but I'm with them on this. We had a long night working on our plan and you were the one who ended up sleeping in the middle of it. This is what you get for missing out in one of your ideas and for getting us up way too early." Yang sighed tiredly.

"But Yang!"

"Sorry, Sis, but this is your punishment. No cookies for you for the rest of the day…"

"NOOOOOO!"

"WILL YOU STOP F***ING SHOUTING!? I ALREADY SLAMED ONE LOUDMOUTH TO A WALL AND I WON'T HESITATE TO DO IT AGAIN!" A very angry voice shouted from behind the door to team BLAD's room, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Ruby immediately hide behind her sister, quivering like a leaf.

"Sorry about Dia. She's been studying all night for Professor Peach's exam today and the subject's got her frustrated for some reason. Ash's air horn didn't really help her mood many…" A calm voice stated, and I chuckled silently when I saw almost everyone else jump slightly at the voice. As one of the few who didn't get startled, I turned to the source of the voice and greeted him and his companion.

"Morning Baltazar. Levy."

"Yo, Ren. What's up?" "Hello Ren. How are you this fine morning?" The cousins greeted back, both of them being equally polite despite the difference in formality, which caused me to chuckle outwardly this time. Despite the multitude of differences between them, the most glaring one being their different races, they share a lot of similarities, especially when it comes to being polite and helpful to others.

I would say that it would be in their Morado bloodline…if it wasn't for the fact that we've met Levy's oldest sister Rosarita. Polite is not a word that I'd use to describe that person.

"Baltazar! Where did you come from?!" Jaune cried out while pointing at the door to the lightning ninja's room, which was still shut tight.

"Blame my parents, Jaune." Baltazar muttered in an amused tone, causing most of us to chuckle or giggle slightly, before he continued. "Levy and I were actually awake for about three hours before Ash woke up and decided to wake Dia up with his air horn. As you can see…didn't work out too well."

"Three hours? Its barely past eight! You guys have been up since five in the morning?!" Ruby exclaimed in surprise, and I honestly can't blame her. There's no way I'd be able to wake up that early myself without incentive.

"We're early risers." Levy stated with a shrug.

*_SLAM!*_

"Where is he!?" A very angry voice growled out, and I couldn't help but flinch a little of the sleep deprived archer that stomped out of her team's room who looked ready to kill anyone who rubbed her the wrong way.

"Here you go." Baltazar said while dragging his powerhouse of a teammate by the foot, ignoring Levy's disapproving stare quite well from what I see, and handed the appendage to Dia, who swiped it out of his hand angrily. "I'd recommend you don't hurt him too much though. Levy just cleaned the room and blood stains are so difficult to remove from the carpet. "

"No promises… I'll meet you guys at the cafeteria after I'm done with this idiot." Dia grumbled before tossing her teammate into the room and stomped back into it, slamming the door in the process.

"Electric kunai are in the desk next to my experimental shrapnel shuriken!" Baltazar called out, and I couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow at the remark.

"Thanks, Chief!"

"Uh…how about we head out? I don't want to hear what Dia might do to her partner…" Pyrrha requested in exasperation.

"Don't want to support your old school friend?" Weiss questioned.

"He's gotten in worse situations before when he was knocked out. He'll be fine." Pyrrha shrugged.

"I don't mind hearing that fiend get tortured," Blake admitted nonchalantly. I guess she still doesn't like Ash all that much, even with their better understanding.

I don't blame her though. I'm still a little irritated at him for getting me sick on turkey, pushing me off a cliff while I was stuffed into a giant cradle, and getting me paralyzed from the waist down. Sadly, breakfast ends soon, and I'd rather not deny my stomach any more than I already did. I clapped my hands to get everyone's attention.

"Well then… Who wants pancakes?"

-Cafeteria, a few minutes later-

"C'moooon! Can I please have my cookies!?"

"No! It's punishment for waking us up with your whistle! Besides, cookies are not for breakfast!"

"But they go great with my milk and strawberry pancakes!"

"I don't care! No cookies for you!"

"I need my fix, woman!"

I shook my head at the argument between Ruby and Weiss. The two are arguing just like siblings, and it was something that always amused me. It was nice to see their friendship grow from the little mess of squabbles in the beginning. Jaune even said that that their first meeting ended up with the pair getting caught in an explosion, something that both my leader and I, along with Pyrrha, had the _pleasure_ of experiencing the week before their midterm exams last semester.

I began chuckling a little myself as I took a sip of coffee, my plate having been long empty after finishing my breakfast, and I began thinking about my plethora of friends and all the things that happened to us since the school year started. Being friends with Team RWBY was never boring, due to all the things that happen whenever they're around. Quite the trouble magnets, they are. Ruby herself has changed a bit from how she was in the beginning, becoming more responsible and take charge, but she was still the lovable and energetic girl we know and care about. Weiss has become much more open and accepting as well, something that she usually reserved to her best friends and team in the beginning. A nice change from the somewhat cold and easily embarrassed girl that asked me where her 'best friend' was back at the end of our team placement ceremony.

That, and she made me a boat load of lien for that bet I made between her and Baltazar. I'll be forever grateful to her because of that.

Blake is still the mysterious one of the group, but thankfully she's comfortable with us to let us in in some of her secrets, such as her Faunus heritage and her previous affiliation with the White Fang. In all honesty, Yang is the only one who hasn't really changed all that much since the beginning of our three team friendship. Still fun loving, eager to party, and very protective of her hair and sister. I've seen serious parts of her on occasion, but those are as rare as a blue moon.

"And I swear to God, if you use that air horn to wake me up again I will sodomize you with a dozen fire arrows, got it!"

"Alright, alright, I get it! Geez, you're no fun when you're having your peri-"

*_SLAM!*_

"What did I say about mentioning that in public, you moron!?"

"…Did you have to bash my head into my breakfast? I think I got butter in my nose."

And the morning is complete with Dia punishing Ash once more for something he so richly deserves. As I said, I'm still bitter towards him for the trouble he put me through that day, so seeing him suffering in the hands of his teammate gives me a bit of sadistic joy.

Team BLAD, as a whole, has always been a curious group in my eyes. Sure they're as tight a group as our team and RWBY, but I noticed that they spend most of their time apart than with each other. Ash and, surprisingly, Levy are the most sociable of the group and often hang out with either team RWBY or us in team JNPR than together. Ash himself has also been training with us on occasion and giving Jaune tips on how to control his aura while I've seen Levy with team RWBY and actually give them medical lectures every now and again. I can't help but feel sorry for them though. Lectures like those are not all that fun to listen to without having a proper appreciation towards the field of medicine, something that none of us have.

Baltazar, on the other hand, spends a lot of time on his own, even after he became more comfortable with us, either working on one of his many projects, sleeping, or actually doing an odd job here and there as an employee of both Azure Armory Inc. and Relámpagos Repairs. According to Yang, he has always been like that since their time in Signal; a soft-spoken introvert that would rather tinker with his inventions than spend time with others. Thankfully he has made recent attempts to spend more time with us, much to the pleasure of many of us, especially Weiss.

I guess that incident involving the heiress overworking herself to the point of sickness really affected him more than he'd like to admit…and opened our eyes to see how dark he can be when provoked. He truly is protective of her, and by proxy us, and I'm glad he's on our side…

Then there's Dia. Honestly, I can't make heads or tails about her sometimes. It's as if she's Blake's both equal and opposite at times. She's more sociable and enjoys spending time with us, but she practically never tells us about her past, only giving us snippets of her island school and her home village. She also knows more about certain things that most people wouldn't know about, such as her knowledge of Jeweled Flower Island, one of the most dangerous places in Remnant. There is also the way she fights… I'm not too sure, but for some reason, whenever we spar, it feels like she's never giving her all, like she's holding back her full potential. I know I'm not the first to realize this, but until Dia admits it herself, the rest of us won't say anything about it.

"N-Nora? Are you sure you should be drowning your pancakes in that much syrup?"

"Why not, Jaune-Jaune? Syrup makes pancakes taste infinitely better! It's even good by itself!"

"I know, but having all that syrup doesn't really look all that healthy…"

"It's fine! I work out! Besides, most of the food I eat goes to my front bumpers anyways, so it's all good!"

"Front bumpers?"

"…*_poke*_"

"Oh…"

And then there's my team, which I wouldn't trade away for anything. Jaune has proven himself to be quite the leader, despite his less than spectacular standing compared to the rest of us. I'm well aware that he came to this academy very unprepared, but Pyrrha and his fellow leaders have taken great strides in improving his academics and combat skills. He has come a long way from the lovable goof with some skill that he was in the beginning. He's still a lovable goof, but now he's able to handle himself quite nicely from time to time. He will go far. I'm sure of it.

I really do have to thank Pyrrha for supporting him this much. She truly is much more than what those fighting tournaments and magazines make her out to be. Pyrrha is indeed strong and a genius in the battle field, but she's also kind, helpful, humble and an all-around good person who is, honestly, a little socially awkward due to how little friends she had due to her fame. If I recall, only Ash and Weiss were her only real friends before coming here, and she spent more time with the former than the latter, something that I myself will have difficulty accomplishing, even with my long-standing friendship/relationship with Nora. I guess that's why she likes Jaune so much, the guy didn't know her outside from Pumpkin Pete's, and treated her like a normal person other than a celebrity. Here's hoping their relationship lasts a long time.

Speaking of relationships, I doubt I'll ever be as happy as the time I heard Nora admitting that she liked me. To be honest, I knew she had feelings for me, and I won't deny that I had those feelings as well, but like her, I decided not to say anything about it, out of fear of ruining our friendship. I guess that fear went away when we saw another pair of best friends get together. I was also kind of surprised by how much effort Nora put in to her confession attempts, especially the one where she managed to get Dia and Weiss into hula outfits to try and serenade me. I wish I'd seen it happen too, that would've been hilarious. In any case, I'm happy that I've overheard her accidental confession at midterms last semester, even if it did cost me the match.

I've also heard she's been writing a song about her feelings and has been going to team BLAD lately for some help with it. Heh, I can't wait to hear it…

"Hey Ren? Are you ok? You have that curious look on your face again…"

"I'm just curious about the song Nora's been writing. Nothing much," I admitted to Pyrrha automatically. I had nothing to hide, so I figured I'd just say what I was thinking.

"My song? It's done actually! When we're done with classes today, I'll play it for you!" Nora said cheerfully, prompting me to turn my head towards her in surprise.

"Really? You finished it?"

"It's .done and you'll love it! It's so cute!" I heard Levy gush behind me, and I heard many of our friends chuckle at her actions.

"I enjoyed making it. It's a little sappy to me, but hey, what do I know? I'm not a love-struck loon of a girl that's together with her dream guy," Dia grinned while nudging Nora on her side, who simply beamed with a light blush on her face.

I found that expression awfully adorable…

"Oh! Can we hear it too!?" Ruby begged, and I could see the rest of the team looking at us with interest.

"Of course, so long as Nora doesn't mind," I said while glancing at my longtime friend.

"Why not! The more the merrier, I always say, so no worries!" She chirped.

"_Oye_, that's my line…" I heard a soft grumble, and I couldn't help but chuckle at Baltazar's quiet whine.

"Well, it's almost time for class! Time for us to spit up," Weiss spoke up as she stood up, prompting the rest of us to stand as well.

"You guys have that big test with Port, right?" Pyrrha asked Jaune, as he was the only one of our team to have the class with RWBY, Baltazar and Levy.

"Yeah, I just hope I'll do well. Professor Port doesn't really give the best of lectures…" Jaune admitted with a wince.

"Agreed," Team RWBY, Baltazar, and even Levy said together.

"Well then, I guess we'll see you dudes at Professor Goodwitch's class at eleven!" Ash said with a grin, something that caught my attention.

"What's with that smile of yours, Ash?" I asked.

"It's our combat evaluations today, dude! That means one-on-one matches for an entire hour! Time to get hype!" The battle happy redhead cheered, and I noticed that both Nora and Yang began cheering alongside him. I, however, began to simply smirk at the tidbit of info.

I can't wait to find out who I'm sparing against.

-Later, Goodwitch's Class-

"Hmm… It seems that she's getting used to sparing more aggressively, but I can see he's still uncomfortable with fighting other people…" I said as I saw Levy spar against Sun in the arena.

"Yeah… Rita's been helping her become more confident with her fight other people, but Levy's still kind to a fault and a trained medic. It will always be difficult for a soft-hearted individual who's job is to heal others to go all out on anyone unless absolutely," Weiss explained with a sigh, sitting to the left of me as I analyzed the fight between the Faunus and the medic.

"And yet despite that, she's still one of the best martial artists in our class and holds the record for fastest victory. Makes me wonder how much she'll improve if she stops holding back…" I muttered as I stared analytically at the arena, and nodded when I saw Levy poke a couple spots on Sun's shoulder, causing it to go limp.

"Unless you find some that Levy truly can't beat with her usual tactics, you'll be hard pressed to see her go all out, Ren," Baltazar stated tiredly from my right, who was back to wearing his old clothes, except his coat, which was on his lap, with a slight difference; his shirt now being short sleeved instead of sleeveless to cover his stripes. His glasses have also become shades again to hide his cat eyes from others. It seems he's taking his elder cousin's advice to heart.

"Hmm…" I simply nodded in understanding. Knowing that our friendly medic is more skilled than she showed and actually seeing her being that skilled are completely different…and I just have to settle for just the confirmation I've received from the white and blue couple near me.

"He's done. Levy's gone and disabled one of his legs. The fight's hers now," I heard Blake state from behind me, and I could see that she's right. Sun was struggling to get up and soon enough, he fell flat on his face, with Levy bowing in apology. I looked at their aura monitors and saw that while both of them were still pretty full, Sun's image had a large X on it, stating that he was unable to continue.

To be honest, I'm glad that I didn't have to fight her. Sparing with her is enjoyable, I'm not going to lie, but I'd rather not suffer through being temporarily paralyzed again, even if last time was an accident. Despite that, though, I'm glad that Levy won, and as she and Sun came towards us, the latter leaning on the former slightly, I smiled at her in acknowledgment of her victory.

"Hey, dude. Sorry ya lost. Levs is quite the opponent for anyone who doesn't know her tactics." Ash said sympathetically as Neptune, who decided to hang out with us when class started, walked over and grabbed his friend off the medic's shoulder.

"Ah, it's fine. Kind of a new experience for me, actually. Never fought anyone that's able to take me out in a couple pokes, so it was a big challenge." Sun said with a grin.

"You'll never get used to being poked into paralysis, trust me," Weiss sighed while I nodded in agreement.

"Be that as it may, it was still an impressive match to watch." I said as I turned to Levy, "I noticed that you incorporated a couple other fighting styles in that fight instead of your typical Eight Trigrams Palm style. If I had to guess…Tai Chi and…Praying Mantis?"

"Southern Praying Mantis, to be exact. Abuelito taught me his four best martial art styles and I pretty much mastered them by this point. I also know Northern Shaolin, but I don't use it all that often. Baltazar uses it more than I do." Levy explained while pointing at her feline cousin, who simply nodded back in confirmation.

"Hmm… I see. I'm quite familiar with different types of martial arts myself, so knowing someone like you who is a master of multiple styles can be quite helpful. Think you can give me some tips when we have some free time?" I couldn't help but ask. My martial arts skills are good, but it can't hurt to further improve your abilities.

"Of course! I'd be happy to-"

"Will Lie Ren of team JNPR and Yang Xiao Long of team RWBY please come down? It is your turn to spar!" We heard Professor Goodwitch call out, causing me to grimace slightly when I heard who I was sparing against.

"Me verses The Renster, eh? This ought to be good," Yang grinned as she punched a fist into her palm, making me groan a little.

"Good for you, but painful for me if I'm not careful." I grumbled as I saw her go towards the arena.

"Why do you say that, Ren?" Pyrrha asked from in front of me, tilting her head to see me.

I didn't reply, but instead pulled one of my StormFlowers out of my sleeve and pointed at the blade. As soon as I saw everyone's eyes go wide, I knew they understood my situation.

"Oh…uh…well…looks like you just have to make sure you don't cut her hair then," Jaune suggested uncomfortably.

"Easier said than done, bud. Trust me," Dia spoke up with a wince, and I recalled that she was the one who faced Yang during their finals match and wound up cutting a bit of her hair with her arrows.

She was called the Barbequed Blonde for the rest of the day after that.

"Are you sure you're ok to fight though, Ren? I remember that you weren't looking all that well not that long ago…" Levy spoke up in concern. I can't blame her for her worry, but honestly, I feel pretty good right now, and I don't mind going out there to spar, but I just wish I was against an opponent who can pound me into a burning past if I accidentally cut her hair.

"I'm fine, Levy. I'm good to fight. I just don't know what kind of state I'll be when this battle's over…" I said with a wry smile.

Sighing in defeat, I decided to accept my fate and headed towards the arena for my spar with Yang. This will be a difficult challenge for me. We're both skilled in close combat, but while I'm more of a precision fighter, Yang plows through her foes through brute strength, and if I resort to using my blades, I have to be very careful not to cut a bit of her hair off by accident.

Considering how much of an easy target it is, though, that's easier said than done.

"Students? Are you ready?" Professor Goodwitch asked the two of us, prompting us to go into our fighting stances, ready to bout.

"We are," We said firmly, my calm tone a stark contrast to Yang's excited one.

"Then you may begin."

The moment she said those words, we charged, my blades clashing against her gauntlets. To be honest, most of the spar was a bit of a blur. We clashed, we struck, we evaded, it was a typical spar that kept the blood pumping and made both me and my opponent stronger in the process. The two of us continued to bout, each of us landing a good blow here and there, and I managed to nick her cheek a little, but I ended up having part of my hair singed from barely dodging one of her flaming fists. I noticed that she was about to land another blow to me and I quickly retaliated by firing my guns at her. Thankfully the two of us were using non-lethal rounds, so they didn't hurt her too badly when they hit. However, as I fired, I noticed something on the ground and I paled drastically at the sight.

There were some strands of blonde hair on the ground, some of it singed from my bullets. I accidentally shot some of Yang's hair off when I shot her.

Evidently she noticed too, as the arena quickly grew hotter and I saw her eyes glowing a furious red now. She charged at me wildly, and I had to my best to not get too damaged from her angry assault. She managed to get a good hit on my stomach, enough to make me lose my weapons, but not enough to knock me out, surprisingly. Without my weapons, I resorted to using my martial arts to combat her, and managed to blow her away with a palm strike. She didn't look too hurt, though, and for some reason, it felt like the heat around her was getting more intense. She then let off a burst of fire so bright that I had to cover my eyes. One moment later I opened my eyes slightly, and I caught a sight of a blonde blur, followed by a roar similar to that of a lioness.

Then everything turned black…

-Dining Hall, afternoon-

"Hahaha…sorry for knocking you out, Ren. Didn't mean to go wild on you," Yang laughed sheepishly while scratching her neck.

"It's ok. It just means I have to be more careful about where I shoot. Though to be fair, your hair is a bit of a big target." I muttered, holding a sack full of ice on my head to alleviate the pain from her blazing punch.

"Yang, you need to learn to control your temper around your friends… I'm aware that your strength comes from your emotions, but using such power on friends is very dangerous," Levy lectured in a stern tone, and I chuckled slightly when I saw our local firebrand actually shrink a little at our medic's disapproving tone and expression.

I'm not surprised by her actions, though. Levy's always has our health in her best interest and is usually the one who heals us whenever we're done sparing. I kind of feel bad for making her worry so much in our fights, but we are required to push past our limits in order to become stronger.

The stronger we become, the better we can protect our loved ones from evil. That's the main reason why I'm not too upset at Yang for decking me to the point of unconsciousness.

"Heh, one of the fiercest fighters in our class is actually afraid of the closest thing our school has to a pacifist. I can't help but find the irony of the situation a bit funny," Jaune muttered in amusement as he ate some of his lunch, a slice of ham and pineapple pizza.

Did I forget to mention that today we're getting catering from Rosso's Pizzeria? I guess that blow from Yang messed with my head more than I thought.

"You are aware that the 'pacifist' you're talking about is more than capable of paralyzing your mouth and make you unable to eat, right?" I heard Weiss state smugly as I turned to her, seeing her elegantly eat her slice of vegetarian pizza.

"…You're speaking from personal experience, aren't you?" I couldn't help but ask. She didn't answer, but the slight flinch and light blush on her face were enough answers for me.

"Oh, I remember Cody telling me about that," Ruby spoke up before turning to Levy, "He said that you used to use him and your friends as test subjects for the pressure point techniques that your grandpa taught you. I think he even said that you accidentally screwed up at one point and made him not able to use his right leg for a week!"

"Really? Is that true?" Pyrrha questioned curiously, and I saw Levy blush a little in embarrassment while looking away in shame.

"…It is. I had trouble with my pressure point techniques in the beginning and I almost always ended up paralyzing someone during my training. It was almost as bad as when…I tried to…"

I frowned when she trailed off. Levy has always been a sensitive person according to Weiss, and recalling certain past experiences seemed to always bring her mood down. I've even heard from Jaune and Pyrrha that she broke down a little shortly after the ball we had at the end of the previous semester. It bothers me that someone as kind hearted as her is still suffering from events from her past…

"Whoa, Levs, no need to look like that!" Ash shouted. "You were just starting out, right? Of course there would be some mistakes in the beginning. Heck when I first started practicing my semblance, I literally broke my hand while trying to punch a boulder because I didn't harden my arm enough."

"…Sorry, Ash, but the mistakes from my childhood were more severe than that. At least you didn't nearly electrocute someone." Levy mumbled sadly, and I noticed that tears were forming in her eyes.

I couldn't help but sigh at her actions. Levy told us a while ago about an incident where she tried to use one of Rita's experimental weapons and ended up nearly shocking Duke to death, which gave her a fear of lightning manipulation. Just the slightest hint of mentioning it or something similar causes her to spiral into a self-deprecating depression.

And I thought Baltazar had self-esteem issues.

"Oh great, Levy's depressed again. Think someone can wake Chief up so he can help us cheer her up," Dia grumbled while pointing to the side of her, which showed our narcoleptic friend passed out once again, his meat lover's pizza all devoured the moment he sat down.

I don't blame him for being more tired than normal, though. He was one of the first to spar in class and ended up fighting Nora of all people. Fighting her will always leave people exhausted, no matter who you are.

"I'll do it!" Nora volunteered beside me while standing up quickly, and I immediately winced, not only because her actions aggravated my still tender wounds, but because her methods of waking _other_ people up are not as gentle as waking me up.

Jaune and Pyrrha can attest that.

"Don't bother, Nora, I'm already awake…" Baltazar's tired voice spoke up, causing Nora to whine a little as he lifted his head, but I couldn't help but notice something off about him. He had this air of melancholy around him, as if he's seen some sort of tragedy recently, and it unnerved me. A dark individual he may be, but it isn't often to see him like this.

And apparently, I wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Baltazar, are you ok? You look a little distressed," Blake questioned politely.

"…I don't know. For some reason, I feel like something happened recently. Like an accident just happened or something. It's something that I haven't been able to shake for a while…" Baltazar admitted before turning to me, something that I found a little odd, "At first I thought it was because you weren't looking that good lately, Ren. Heck, you even passed out a little in Dr. Oobleck's class a couple days back, but you bounced back after your little spell. Even after you got better, though, the feeling didn't go away, at least not completely. I can't really explain it, but it's like the back of my mind is telling me that we're in for some bad news really soon."

I understood where he was coming from, and I couldn't help but feel bad for not only him, but for the others as well, for making them worry about me. For a while now, shortly after our spar with Rita, I've been feeling a sense of dread, and my body wasn't performing at its best, but I've ignored it for a while, thinking that I was coming down with something. As time passed, though, it only grew stronger, and it became increasingly difficult for me to go on with the day…and it kind of scared me.

And, worst of all, for some reason, I felt like I died a little when I woke up a couple days ago. It was very difficult for me to wake up, but I was somehow able to thanks to my teammates. I was very sluggish and exhausted for most of the day, and all I wanted to do was sleep. In fact, I actually fell asleep for a brief moment at Dr. Oobleck's class, though as soon as I closed my eyes, a voice echoed in my head that I swore sounded just like me.

_Keep moving forward._

As soon as those words came into my head, I suddenly felt invigorated. I felt my body go back to normal and for the life of me I can't figure out why. The others were confused by my recovery as well, but didn't really complain. They weren't going to look at a gift horse in the mouth, and neither was I, but even after I got better, I still felt a little off. Like a part of me was missing, and I can't figure out why…

"Eh, you're probably just being paranoid, dude. I mean, you do have a crazy psycho cousin who's staying here for the festival. Maybe you're just worried you might get experimented on or something…" I heard Ash say dismissively. I can tell that it was his way to try and lighten the mood, and I commend him for that.

"…Maybe you're right. But if that's the case, then it's not me that's at risk." My lightning enhanced friend said with a small, amused grin, before turning to Weiss, "If I recall, she's been wanting to meet with you to discuss the last project you two worked on. Something about making your hair three different colors at once, I believe."

"She is not getting near me ever again!" The startled heiress shouted, causing all of us to laugh and the mood to change for the better. Its times like this were I'm glad to be surrounded by so many friends. It makes me wish that these peaceful times that we live in could last forever.

Sadly…as the old saying goes…nothing lasts forever.

/ _Attention Students. _/ A voice in the intercom announced, causing my eyes to go wide.

It was Ozpin, and he almost never makes an announcement unless it was something really important.

/ _Will all students, both regular and exchange, along with all faculty members, please come to the auditorium at once. Classes will be canceled for the rest of the day. Again, all students and faculty members please come to the auditorium at once. _/

I began to feel a sense of dread once more, but it was a different kind of dread than the one I've felt recently. Odds are this was the sense that Baltazar was talking about earlier. I took a look at everyone, and I noticed their downcast expressions, and I can tell they're thinking of the worst.

"Guys? What's happening?" Nora spoke up nervously, not that I blame her. The tone in Professor Ozpin's voice sounded anything but happy. In fact, it sounded quite melancholy.

"I don't know, but I don't like it," Ruby muttered.

"Well then, we better head over to the auditorium to see what Ozpin wants, guys. Something tells me we're not going to like the news, though." Dia suggested as all of us in the dining hall got up and began heading towards our destination.

I had a feeling that what Ash just said was a horrible understatement. I sincerely hope I was wrong.

-Auditorium, early evening-

The meeting was done. Many people were gone. Some in tears, some hysteric, and many of us in various forms of distraught.

One of Beacon's older teams, a group of fourth year students, was sent on a high ranked mission, something that was typical for someone of their level, but something happened. The mission details were misinformed, and the team ended up facing some powerful Grimm that was not in their mission report and were completely unprepared for it.

They never stood a chance, and all of them met their end at the hands of the very monsters we were trained to kill.

It was a slap on the face for many of us, especially those who still believed that being a huntsman or huntress was all fun and games. News flash: It Isn't. We are not invincible. We have strengths and weaknesses just like every other human and Faunus out there. We risk our lives every day to keep our loved ones safe. Dying on the job is to be expected in our field of work.

Expected…but not easy to accept.

"…Was this was you were expecting when you said that you had a bad feeling about today, _primo_?" Levy said in a soft, subdued tone from one of the nearby seats.

"…Sort of," Baltazar admitted, sighing tiredly from his standing position on the stage with Weiss leaning on him for support, "I could tell that we were about to get some bad news soon, but I didn't know it was going to be this bad…"

"I can't believe that we just lost a team to a bunch of Grimm. Aren't we supposed to be the ones to kill them?" Jaune muttered as he sat on the stage, Pyrrha leaning on him and resting on his shoulder to comfort him.

"Jaune, this is one of the risks that we have to face when we accepted our role as Vale's protectors. It's something that we all have to accept. It's our reality, after all," Blake said solemnly.

"I know, but that doesn't make it any easier. Knowing that there's a good chance that we might die because of a simple mistake. It isn't fair," My leader muttered once more.

"Life's not fair, bud. In fact, life's pretty much crappy most of the time. I should know," I heard Dia said softly, and I felt a pang of sympathy towards her.

She was speaking from experience. She lost someone close to her. That's the only explanation why she would say what she said.

"She's right, Jaune. Life isn't fair. Despite that, though, we have to make the most of it and plow through what it throws of us. This is just another hurdle that we have to jump over," Yang stated in a surprisingly upbeat tone while leaning on the side of the stage, catching our attention.

"Wow, Yang. I didn't expect you to be so profound." Weiss said in a surprised and impressed tone.

"I know what it likes to lose someone you love, Weiss. I know how painful it is, but I don't let it get to me. I use my pain to make me stronger, so that I can ensure that I don't lose anyone else." Yang replied in a serious tone while turning to Ruby, who was sitting next to her, with loving and protective eyes, and I felt myself smiling at the sight. She truly is a devoted older sister who would do anything to protect her baby sister, and I respect her greatly for that.

"I'm still worried about us, though." Jaune spoke up once more. "I mean, that could've been us out there on a mission with poor intel. That could've been us that died. I…I don't want any of you guys to die. All of you mean as much to me as my parents and sister, and I can't imagine my life without any of you."

"That's life, Jaune. Full of hardships, difficult choices, and loss, either by your hand or by someone else's," Blake spoke up with a faraway look in her eyes. "Death is a natural part of life too, and it's a destiny that we can't change. We don't live forever. That is why we must do our best with the time we have to accomplish all that we can before our own demise."

"Indeed. Life is difficult, but so long as we have a strong resolve, then we can ensure that we can have a fulfilling life," I stated, getting everyone's attention, before continuing. "I believe that both the human spirit and the Faunus spirit are indomitable. If you endeavor to achieve, it will happen given enough resolve. It may not be immediate, and often your greater dreams is something you will not achieve within your own lifetime. The effort you put forth to anything transcends yourself, for there is no futility even in death. That…is what I believe…"

And I truly did. I honestly believe that so long as we possess a strong will, a strong resolve to make things right, then we are able to accomplish great things that will last even in death, whether it is saving a village from a pack of wild monster or raising a loving family. Even something as simple as creating a show for other people's amusement can be seen as an incredible thing in many people's eyes. It is true that we don't last forever, and our own lives can end in a heartbeat due to our profession, but that will not stop me…

No…will not stop _us_, from doing the right thing; to protect our loved ones and ensure their safety.

As soon as I said my little speech, I caught noticed that everyone was staring at me with wide eyes. I can tell that everyone was impressed by what I said, and I truly hope that they take my words to heart. I would've said more, but I wasn't able to thanks to a certain childhood friend of mine hugging me tightly and crying in my shirt.

"R-R-Ren! Th-that was the-*_hic*_-most beautiful thing I've ever he-_*sob*_heard!" I heard her sob in me, and I found myself hugging her just as tightly and kissed the top of her head, very grateful for her words.

"It really is, dude. You should be a philosopher or something after we graduate!" Ash suggested in an amused tone.

"…You're thinking about me writing fortune cookies for a living, aren't you?" I asked in a deadpanned tone. It was too easy to see what he was thinking most of the time, especially if he's grinning like an idiot like that.

"I can see him doing that for a living," Pyrrha admitted with a giggle, which sparked laughter with some of our friends while I simply sighed in mild exasperation. I'm glad the mood was lifted though, but I can tell there are still some of us that are a little distraught about what had transpired.

Especially the person that I care about the most who was still in my arms.

"Ren…" I heard her whisper, and I looked down at her to see her staring back at me, her eyes red and puffy from crying, and I can tell what's on her mind.

"Ren… Promise that you won't leave me. Even if something bad happens, I want to be with you forever, so please…don't leave me. I don't want to be alone without you…

"I love you too much to lose you…"

I felt myself tear up a little at her request. I knew it was coming, but that didn't stop me from becoming a little emotional. I don't blame her, though. I'm afraid of losing her too. However, I don't let that discourage me. I don't plan on leaving her, even if I pass on, and I think it's best if I let her know.

"Don't worry, Nora. I'm not going anywhere. Even in death, I'll always be with you. With all of my friends, but with you especially. I love you too, after all," I stated seriously with a soft smile.

It's not often that I said 'I love you' to her, but every time I say it, I always meant it. I tilted her head up and kissed her to seal the deal, before ending it and returned to embracing her. I heard more sniffling, but not just from Nora. I looked ahead and smiled when I saw the girls looking at me with tears in their eyes, obviously touched by what I said. In fact, even Jaune and Baltazar were a little teary eyed as well. Only Ash wasn't crying, but I can tell from the look in his eyes that he was just as touched as the others were. After a few more moments of silence, I ended my embrace with my love and asked her a simple question.

"…Do you mind if we hear your song now?"

"Of course!" Nora said very happily, bringing a meaningful smile to my face.

As soon as those words escape her lips. I saw team BLAD go to work, preparing themselves for another impromptu performance, all of them with happy expressions, as the rest of us, went to find seats. Nora was on stage as well to assist them, looking like she's back to her old self. I smiled, glad that everyone's feeling better now after our little heart to heart.

"Hmm…setting up for another performance I see."

I didn't jump, but I was startled slightly by the sound of Headmaster Ozpin speaking behind me. I turned around and saw that he wasn't alone. Professors Goodwitch and Port, Dr. Oobleck, team CFVY, Sun, and Neptune were all here. I wasn't expecting them to show up, but I'm not complaining. Now Nora has a much bigger audience to entertain, and I'll know she'll enjoy it. She loves public performances.

"Well, this explains the instruments that I found behind the stage this morning. I thought one of our ball organizers brought in the instruments too early," Professor Goodwitch muttered in an amused tone.

"Ho-ho! It is wonderful to see such a sight after receiving such dreadful news!" Professor Port exclaimed joyfully.

"Indeed! They've taken the news to heart, and are striving their best to move forward from the pain and fear that the loss of their upperclassmen!" Dr. Oobleck stated in an impressed tone.

"Well then, how about we find some seats and enjoy the show?" Coco suggested with her arms crossed, with her team nodding in agreement.

"I'm down with that!" Neptune grinned as he and Sun, along with the others began looking for good seats.

"Alright, Ren, we're done! Get ready fo-Whoa!" Nora shouted, catching my attention, and I laughed a little at her surprised expression.

"Yo Nora, hope you don't mind having a bigger audience!" Sun grinned with a thumbs up.

"Of course not! The more the merrier!" Nora chirped before turning behind her, "Ok guys, you ready?!"

"No worries," Baltazar muttered from behind a keyboard.

"Good to go!" Dia chirped with a guitar in her hands.

"We're ready, dude!" Ash grinned with a thumbs up from his spot behind the drum set.

"Of course, Nora. Shall we begin?" Levy confirmed politely while holding up a trumpet, something that caught my attention.

"…Levy's using her trumpet for this? I guess that explains why Baltazar's working the keyboard now." I stated in amusement.

"The piece actually uses more instruments than we're using, so we have a track set up to fill in the missing parts. Took us a while to get it right, but it was worth it…" Baltazar explained while patting the keyboard before putting on an earpiece with a small microphone.

"This song is gonna rock, dude! You're gonna love it!" Ash exclaimed, also while wearing a microphone in his ear.

"That's right!" Levy affirmed, the only one who didn't have a microphone of any kind on her.

"Alright everyone! Are you ready for one of the best songs ever?!" Dia announced loudly, causing many of my friends, and even a couple of the professors, to cheer.

"Hehehe…Thanks for coming, everyone!" Nora started with a microphone in her hand, looking a little nervous. "I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting so many people to be here, but I won't complain. This song was something I've been working on ever sense I was little, when I first found out that I was in love with my best friend. I wrote it and rewrote it hundreds of times, and every time I think I got it right, I find something that I don't like and start all over. Even after Ren and I got together, I kept working on it, hoping to finally find the right way to make the song work so that I can sing it to him…"

"Nora…" I whispered in surprise. I didn't know she was working on this song for so long. I knew she liked me for a while, but to hear that she liked me to this point for a long time…makes me very happy.

I'm lucky that I have her in my life.

"Now though, I finally managed to finish it just how I wanted it to be! It took me a while, and I had to get some help with Dia here, but now…I think it's perfect!" Nora continued while gesturing to Dia, who simply grinned back at her with a thumbs up, before turning back to us. "Before we get this started, I want Ren to come up really quick!"

A little confused by her request, I got up from my seat and walked towards the stage until I was right in front of it. It was then when she crouched down to my level with the biggest smile on her face, a cherry red blush on her face.

"Ren…thanks so much for being with me since the beginning. I don't know what I'd do without you, and this song will hopefully tell you how much you mean to me…" She said kindly, bringing a smile to my face, and brought a hand towards my face, her index finger pointing at me, and I smiled, knowing what was going to happen.

She pressed my nose, and said a single word. Her favorite word.

"Boop!"

As soon as she said that, the song began, a soft piano playing. I guess _boop_ was their starting word, but I wasn't expecting it to begin so soon, and I simply stood as Nora began to sing.

~Never knew a time, when you weren't by my side.  
>The one thing I could always count on.<br>Always there for me, you've been my family.  
>Even when all other hope was gone. (Goooone!)<p>

But for a while things have seemed so different,  
>Like it's the same but still brand new.<br>I can't believe it, when did I start to fall for you?~

I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting her song to start like this. Soft, calm, and emotional. The guys were also singing with her, another thing that surprised me. The soft tone ended shortly after the last word passed, and the song picked up to something that definitely sounds more Nora-esque. I couldn't help but smile when the change happened, because this song now just screams Nora. And I love it.

~Have I lost my mind, have I just been blind,  
>Never to have seen you might be,<br>Everything I need, everything I dream,  
>All along has it been right in front of me?<br>We've been together for a long long long long time.  
>I've never thought that you and I could be a thing.<br>I can't believe it, this is happening.

I think, 'Oh whoa what am I to do?' (ooo OOO ooo!)  
>I didn't know that I would fall in love with you, (Fall in love with you!)<br>And what to do right now I haven't got a clue.  
>I just bite my tongue and when I want to say I love you I say,<br>(Boop boop!) (Boop boop!) Boop! (Boop boop!) (Boop boop!)

(Boop boop!) (Boop boop!) Boop! (Boop boop!) (Boop boop!)

(Boop boop!) (Boop boop!) Boop!

Every chatelaine wants to share her reign, so come and join me in my castle.  
>We'll crush our enemies, bring them to their knees,<br>And though I have a tendency to babble.  
>When I think about you I can't help my heart from racing.<br>My mind goes fast and my knees start shaking.  
>My stomach does flips, and my brain does flops,<br>And the feelings that I'm feeling I don't think that I can stop.  
>I could just say it, I love your everything.<br>But I can't quite tell myself, if you're feeling quite the same.  
>Maybe I should slow it down, try to show restraint.<br>Hold Magnhild, I think I'm gonna faint.~

I chuckled a little as Dia went into a solo. I am greatly enjoying the song Nora made, and it really does show how much she's liked and cared for me in the beginning. She was practically in love with me since the beginning, but instead of outright saying it, she simply said her favorite word to convey her feelings. Again…I am touched by how much this bubbly bombardier of a best friend of mine felt towards me, and so long as I exist, whether in life or death, I will always be with her. No matter what…

~I think, 'Oh whoa what am I to do?' (Ooo OOO ooo!)  
>I didn't know that I would fall in love with you, (Fall in love with you!)<br>And what to do right now, I haven't got a clue.  
>I just bite my tongue and when I want to say I love you I say,<br>(Boop boop!) (Boop boop!) I'll say boop! (Boop boop!) (Boop boop!)  
>Boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo boop.<br>When I want to say I love you I'll say…

BoooOOOP!~

A somewhat abrupt end, but a fitting one nevertheless, and everyone began applauding her. The song was great, easily the best I've heard, and it was made by the woman I love. I watched as said woman jumped off the staged and rushed at me, giving me a very tight hug. I didn't complain, however, and simply hugged her back. She looked up at me with her bright and excitable eyes and asked a simple question. One that I was expecting as soon as she was finished.

"Soooo…what do you think?"

A simple, expected question, but one that I know holds a lot of meaning for her depending on how I answer. She worked on it for a long time after all. I didn't say anything immediately, simply stared at her with a small smile and amusement surely showing in my eyes. I pushed her away slightly, confusing her a little if the expression on her face was anything to go by, and brought a hand up at her. I brought a finger up and touched her nose, just as she did to me many times, and uttered my answer to her.

"Boop…"

_I love it. And I love you._

I guess she got my message, because as soon as I said it she kissed me hard and embraced me once again. I laughed a little once more at her actions and I can hear the others laughing and giggling as well. I don't blame them. Seeing Nora acting like this was always good entertainment.

They rest of the day was pretty mundane after that. We had dinner, spent some more time simply talking, watched as Yang ended up getting hit on the head by a wooden shuriken again because of her bad puns, and had a pretty good day over all.

It was evening now and everyone was in bed besides me. Jaune and Pyrrha were sleeping in their respective beds, not entirely ready to take it to the next step, despite them being the most 'lovey dubby' amongst our group's trio of couples. Nora on the other hand was sleeping on my bed again, something that occurs very often. An old habit of hers whenever she's feeling very happy or scared. A habit that I'm not planning on letting her brake if I have anything to say about it. I, however, was sitting on the window still, looking at the starlit sky. I enjoyed doing a little stargazing every now and again, and tonight was just too beautiful to pass up. I wish Nora was awake so that I can share this with her, but she used a lot of energy today and I don't have the heart to wake her. I looked at a nearby clock, and I noticed that it was getting let. I got off the window to go to bed with Nora, but I couldn't help but look back at the sky once more, and saw something I did not expect.

There, right next to the shattered moon, illuminated by the moonlight, was a transparent man, simply floating by with a small smile on his face. He looked like Ozpin with black hair and no glasses, and I could see a pair of wings on his back. I would've mistaken him for an avian Faunus if it wasn't for a little detail that I caught.

The small, golden halo on his head.

This was an angel, something that I was not expecting to see in this life time, and yet I felt strangely connected to him. Like we were one and the same. I smiled back at the angel, and he nodded back. I saw his lips move, but I wasn't expecting to hear him, since he was so far away, but his voice echoed in my head clear as a bell. His voice was just like mine, and the words he spoke were very familiar.

_Keep moving forward_.

It was then that I realized that he was the one who's voice I heard the other day after I passed out in Dr. Oobleck's class. The voice that reinvigorated me after I felt so bad shortly after the spar with Rita. He must've been a guardian angel watching over us. I muttered a thanks to him, and he must've heard it, for he nodded back once more before vanishing completely. I feel a little empty again, as if this was the only time I was going to see him, but I won't let it bother me. Instead, I simply went back to bed, held Nora into my chest, and began to drift off. I smiled as she snuggled into me, and as I began to sleep, I heard Professor Ozpin's voice echoing, restating the speech he made during the announcement of the loss of our upperclassmen. I smiled as I realized that the angel's words were also in that speech, and I fell into a deep, comfortable sleep as I allowed the quote echo in my head one more time.

_For it is in passing that we achieve immortality.  
>From one journey to another, towards your next great adventure…<br>Remember, don't stop.  
>Keep moving forward.<em>

Author's note:

And done. Hope you guys liked the new way I went with in this chapter. I haven't written in first-person view for any of my RWBY works, but it was a fun experience, nevertheless. I hope I portrayed Ren well, it's kind of difficult for me to write as characters that are not my own, hence the creations of my O.C.s, but I hope I did well. It's possible that I might do something like this again sometime. Who knows…? As I stated, this chapter was written in dedication to Monty Oum, creator of RWBY, proud member of Rooster Teeth, and an all-around good person from what I gather. He will be sorely missed, but all we can do is press on. Keep moving forward. The fate of RWBY is up in the air, so who knows what will happen to it. Whatever happens, though, we in the RWBY fandom will work hard in keeping the series alive and well through our works, whether they be stories, drawings, AMVs and other animations, and much more. We will keep Monty's legacy alive and well. He will want us to do so, I'm sure.

Speaking of stories, I have some news regarding my works. Updates on Hymn of Reminiscence will be slow, as you are now very well aware. My writing focus is currently more geared to Scattered Symphony at the moment, but Hymn of Reminiscence will not be an abandoned story. It will be completed, I assure you, but it might take a while. Another thing I'm doing is a little change in this story in terms of arc. The next couple chapters are going to be original works, to expand the story a little, before I go back to the RWBY canon with my renditions of A Minor Hiccup and Painting the Town… which I call the Infiltration Arc. At first it was going to be a crossover arc with Xentryn called the Crossing Paths Arc, but unfortunately, I just can't find a way to work his characters in without making the my story too O.C. heavy. It is a retelling of RWBY itself with some changes to the cast after all. Makes me wonder how the first BLAD of RWBY and JNPR became so popular… In any case, the next arc will be different than what I have planned. I won't reveal anything yet, but I will say that it will involve a certain heiress and the exploration of a couple characters that made cameo appearances in the previous chapter. I actually set myself up pretty well for that. Lucky me.

And if my friend Xentryn is reading this…don't worry. I'm still doing our crossover project, but it won't be in the story itself. It's going to be its own thing. That's right readers, later on I'm going to make another story separate from Scattered Symphony, but still part of it, called Crossing Paths, the same name as the arc it was originally going to be. It will be a primarily O.C. centric story, so I don't have much confidence it will be as popular as my other works, but I won't complain. For those who like O.C. centric stories, I recommend going to my friend's profile and check out his work, The Chronicles of ZFRR. He also has a bit of a tribute to Monty uploaded in his work as well and I recommend you read it. It's quite good, to say the least. As always, my readers, thank you all so much for reading this chapter. Keep Monty in your minds, everyone and have a great day.


End file.
